New Brighton is 2-8 against Ellwood City since January of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The New Brighton Lions will be playing at home against the Ellwood City Wolverine at 7:30 p.m. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: New Brighton has struggled recently with five losses in a row, while Ellwood City will arrive with three straight wins.
New Brighton suffered their biggest loss yet this season on Friday. They had to suffer through a rough 75-34 loss at the hands of Mohawk Area. While losing is never fun, New Brighton can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 658th, while Mohawk Area is ranked 284th).
In what's become a running theme this season, Ellwood City gave their fans yet another huge victory on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 58-32 margin over Riverside. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Ellwood City has posted against Riverside since January 29, 2021.
Joseph Roth was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 19 points and 13 rebounds. Roth is absolutely dominating the rebound category: he's posted at least eight every time he's taken the court this season. Colten Crizer was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with two steals.
New Brighton's loss was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 3-10. As for Ellwood City, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 8-6 record this season.
New Brighton was taken down by Ellwood City 75-33 in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Roth, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. Now that New Brighton knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
