Basketball Game Preview: Newport Wildcats vs. Woodward Bulldogs

The Newport Wildcats will challenge the Woodward Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Newport will head into Sunday's match hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big last Saturday (they won by 32) and on Sunday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past Boyd County 62-60. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Wildcats have posted since March 4, 2024.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Newport to victory, but perhaps none more so than Griffin Starks, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 boards. Starks has been hot recently, having posted nine or more rebounds the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Amontae Lowe, who went 7 of 16 on his way to 16 points along with six assists and five boards.

Newport smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've posted since back in March of 2024.

Meanwhile, Woodward was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They opened the new year with a less-than-successful 66-55 loss to Holy Cross. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 517th in Ohio, while the Indians are ranked 11th in Kentucky).

Woodward's defeat dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Newport, they now have a winning record of 7-6.