Basketball Recap: Braxton County Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Rylan Criner and Bailey Pritt

If Braxton County was riding high fresh off their 46-17 takedown of Clay County last Monday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Braxton County Eagles lost 64-38 to the Ritchie County Rebels on Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' West Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 95th, while the Rebels are ranked 25th).

Bailey Pritt and Rylan Criner certainly did their best on Thursday to avoid the loss. Pritt posted nine points and five assists, while Criner earned seven points in addition to 11 rebounds and three blocks. The dominant performance also gave Criner a new career-high in assists (two).

Elsa Law continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines for Ritchie County, dropping a triple-double on 17 points, ten assists, and ten steals. Law is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed five or more in the last four games she's played. Chelsie Jeffrey was another key player, putting up 11 points and four steals.

Braxton County has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-8 record this season. As for Ritchie County, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 10-4.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Braxton County will host Doddridge County at 5:45 p.m. on Monday. Doddridge County is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57 points per game this season. As for Ritchie County, they will be playing at home against Ravenswood at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.