On Saturday, the Philip Barbour Colts faced the Nitro Wildcats in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Philip Barbour suffered a rough 81-59 defeat at the hands of Nitro. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
When it comes to explaining why Philip Barbour lost, one person who can't be blamed is Braylyn Sparks. Despite the final result, she scored 16 points along with three steals. Sparks hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. Rylee Bodkins was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Nitro was led to victory by Karson Jones and Natalie Smith. Jones scored 18 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks, while Smith dropped a double-double on 20 points and 13 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Mika Adams, who scored nine points along with two steals.
Philip Barbour's loss dropped their record down to 9-2. As for Nitro, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-2.
Philip Barbour will head out on the road to challenge Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Nitro, they will stay at home for another game and welcome Logan at 7:00 p.m. on January 17th. Logan will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps West Virginia Rankings (they are ranked 48th, while Nitro is ranked tenth).
