Nitro is 9-1 against Hoover since December of 2018 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Nitro Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the Hoover Huskies at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Nitro's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last six contests.
Nitro is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of West Virginia's top teams: Wheeling Park, who was ranked fifth at the time (Nitro was ranked second). Nitro came out on top against Wheeling Park by a score of 68-57 on Saturday. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by exactly 11 points.
Natalie Smith
| 02/15/25 vs Wheeling Park | 13 |
| 02/08/25 vs Winfield | 4 |
| 02/07/25 vs Greenbrier East | 11 |
| 02/01/25 @ Wheeling Park | 7 |
| 01/30/25 @ Ripley | 3 |
| + 11 more games |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Nitro to victory, but perhaps none more so than Natalie Smith, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and 13 boards. That's the most rebounds Smith has posted since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Mika Adams, who went 6-for-9 en route to 18 points.
Meanwhile, Hoover fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against Capital on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 60-48 to the Cougars.
Nitro will have to contain Ayva Veltri as she made an impact in Hoover's last game. She went 9-for-21 to rack up 28 points and five boards. Veltri is becoming a predictor of Hoover's success: when she posts at least 20 points the team is 4-2 (and 3-9 when she doesn't). Another player making a difference was Bella Haas, who scored six points and seven rebounds.
Even though they lost, Hoover smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in five consecutive games.
Nitro's win was their 22nd straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-3. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.8 points over those games. As for Hoover, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Nitro has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 24.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Hoover struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything went Nitro's way against Hoover in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as Nitro made off with a 60-40 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Nitro since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
