St. Marys is 8-2 against Ritchie County since January of 2020, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The St. Marys Blue Devils are on the road again and play against the Ritchie County Rebels at 6:00 p.m. on December 19th. Hopefully St. Marys focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 14 on Tuesday.
Last Tuesday, St. Marys faced Williamstown in a battle between two of the state's top teams. St. Marys fell just short of Williamstown by a score of 51-48. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points St. Marys has scored all season.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Addie "r" Davis, who scored 13 points along with three steals. She scored a full 27.1% of St. Marys' points, the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Kiera Martin, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ritchie County entered their tilt with Eastern with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Ritchie County took down Eastern 64-46 on Wednesday. Given Ritchie County's advantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 41st in West Virginia, while Eastern is ranked 730th in Ohio), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ritchie County can attribute much of their success to Elsa Law, who almost dropped a triple-double on 17 points, nine rebounds, and nine steals, and Jayci Gray, who scored 33 points along with seven steals and six assists. Gray continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Chelsie Jeffrey, who scored nine points along with five rebounds.
St. Marys' loss dropped their record down to 4-1. As for Ritchie County, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 3-1.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's match: St. Marys have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 42% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Ritchie County, though, as they've only drained 35.8% of their threes per game this season. Given St. Marys' sizeable advantage in that area, Ritchie County will need to find a way to close that gap.
St. Marys beat Ritchie County 57-48 in their previous matchup back in February. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Marys since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
