A feisty cat fight will be fought as the Wildcats take on the Panthers at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Nitro has three straight victories, Lincoln County has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Nitro is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of West Virginia's top teams: Wheeling Park, who was ranked seventh at the time (Nitro was ranked second). Nitro walked away with a 68-57 win over Wheeling Park on Saturday. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by exactly 11 points.
Natalie Smith
| 02/15/25 vs Wheeling Park | 13 |
| 02/08/25 vs Winfield | 4 |
| 02/07/25 vs Greenbrier East | 11 |
| 02/01/25 @ Wheeling Park | 7 |
| 01/30/25 @ Ripley | 3 |
| + 11 more games |
Nitro got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Natalie Smith out in front who dropped a double-double with 20 points and 13 boards. That's the most rebounds Smith has posted since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Mika Adams, who went 6-for-9 on her way to 18 points.
Meanwhile, Lincoln County ended up a good deal behind Buffalo on Tuesday and lost 66-50.
Nitro will need to focus on slowing down Arien Cooper, one of several Lincoln County players who made an impact when they last played. She dropped a double-double with 11 points and 23 boards. Cooper has been hot recently, having posted ten or more rebounds the last four times she's played. Brooklyn Stickler was another key player, putting up seven points and seven steals.
Even though they lost, Lincoln County smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. This was only their 14th loss (out of 17 games) when they hit their own glass that hard.
Nitro pushed their record up to 15-3 with the win, which was their 22nd straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.8 points over those games. As for Lincoln County, their loss dropped their record down to 3-17.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Nitro hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 55.4 points per game. It's a different story for Lincoln County, though, as they've been averaging only 39.5 points. The only thing between Nitro and another offensive beatdown is Lincoln County. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Nitro was able to grind out a solid victory over Lincoln County in their previous matchup back in March of 2020, winning 78-69. Will Nitro repeat their success, or does Lincoln County have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
