On Saturday, the Nitro Wildcats faced the Philip Barbour Colts in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Nitro blew past Philip Barbour 81-59. Nitro has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 21 points or more this season.
Leading Nitro to victory were 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. Mika Adams was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with two steals.
Several Colts players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Braylyn Sparks, who scored 16 points along with three steals. Sparks is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Rylee Bodkins, who scored 14 points.
Nitro's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.7 points per game. As for Philip Barbour, their loss dropped their record down to 9-2.
Nitro 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). As for Philip Barbour, they will head out on the road to challenge Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
