The West Carteret Patriots will venture away from home to challenge the Swansboro Pirates at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
West Carteret is headed into Tuesday's match hungry for a win as their strong season has now been derailed by two straight losses. They took a hard 39-24 fall against J.H. Rose last Wednesday. The contest marked the Patriots' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Maddie Steidl put forth a good effort for the losing side as she posted six points and eight boards.
Even though they lost, West Carteret smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in nine consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Swansboro was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Dixon 50-23. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Pirates have posted against the Bulldogs since December 13, 2019.
Swansboro found their leader in sophomore Addison King, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten steals. Those ten steals gave King a new career-high. Grace Jass was another key player, putting up eight points and five steals.
Swansboro pushed their record up to 7-4 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.4 points per game. As for West Carteret, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: West Carteret has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 30 boards per game. However, it's not like Swansboro struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
West Carteret didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Swansboro when the teams last played back in February of 2024, but they still walked away with a 45-40 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for West Carteret since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
