Preston and East Fairmont are an even 4-4 against one another since January of 2015, but not for long. The Preston Knights will look to defend their home court on Monday against the East Fairmont Bees at 5:45 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Preston had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They claimed a resounding 68-36 victory over Fairmont Senior at home. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Preston has posted yet this season.
Preston got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ella White out in front who scored nine points along with eight assists and six steals. That's the first time this season that White posted eight or more assists. Another player making a difference was Isabella Miller, who scored 19 points.
Meanwhile, East Fairmont put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They breezed by Buckhannon-Upshur at home to the tune of 82-41. Given East Fairmont's advantage in MaxPreps' West Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while Buckhannon-Upshur is ranked 75th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
East Fairmont's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kasey Rogers led the charge by scoring 18 points along with four steals. That's the first time this season that Rogers scored 15 or more points. Kailee Haymond was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with two steals.
Preston has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. As for East Fairmont, they pushed their record up to 11-0 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home.
Monday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy contest: Preston have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 31.8 rebounds per game. It's a different story for East Fairmont, though, as they've been averaging only 33.2 rebounds per game. Given Preston's sizeable advantage in that area, East Fairmont will need to find a way to close that gap.
Preston might still be hurting after the 58-33 loss they got from East Fairmont in their previous meeting back in December of 2022. The match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Preston was down 34-12.
