West Carteret and Swansboro are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2021, but not for long. The West Carteret Patriots will take on the Swansboro Pirates at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Friday, West Carteret didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Croatan, but they still walked away with a 82-77 win.
Jack Bell
| 02/14/25 vs Croatan | 36 |
| 02/11/25 vs Swansboro | 21 |
| 02/10/25 vs Kinston | 11 |
| 02/07/25 @ Richlands | 13 |
| 02/04/25 @ Dixon | 15 |
| + 14 more games |
Jack Bell was his usual excellent self, going 13-for-22 to rack up 36 points and six rebounds. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 15.5 points per game. Another player making a difference was Cameron Pavy, who went 8-for-15 on his way to 20 points and five steals.
West Carteret smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in seven consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Swansboro came tearing into Friday's contest with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29 points), and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victor by an 85-64 margin over the Vikings. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 25th, while the Vikings are ranked 113th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Swansboro's win came from a few key players West Carteret will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jonah Holt, who went 11-for-18 en route to 24 points and seven boards. The game was his fifth in a row with at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lorenzo Floyd, who went 6-for-11 to rack up 19 points.
Swansboro pushed their record up to 19-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 81.5 points over those games. As for West Carteret, their record is now 12-7.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as West Carteret and Swansboro are some of the highest-scoring teams around. West Carteret hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 66 points per game. However, it's not like Swansboro struggles in that department as they've been averaging 73.1 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can put up more.
West Carteret suffered a grim 64-44 defeat to Swansboro in their previous meeting on Tuesday. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point West Carteret was down 35-14.
