The West Branch Warriors will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against the Juniata Valley Hornets at 7:15 p.m. on January 26th. West Branch knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past 16 matchups -- so hopefully Juniata Valley likes a good challenge.
Even though Williamsburg scored an imposing 68 points on Tuesday, West Branch still came out on top. West Branch walked away with a 76-68 victory over Williamsburg.
West Branch's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Owen Koleno led the charge by scoring 31 points along with eight rebounds. Koleno has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Isaac Tiracorda was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with eight assists and eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, even though Curwensville scored an imposing 75 points on Tuesday, Juniata Valley still came out on top. Juniata Valley walked away with an 86-75 victory over Curwensville. The win made it back-to-back wins for Juniata Valley.
West Branch's win bumped their record up to 15-1. As for Juniata Valley, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season.
West Branch took their win against Juniata Valley when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a conclusive 95-73. The rematch might be a little tougher for West Branch since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.