NITRO, W.Va. — Nitro outscored St. Albans by 11 points in the second half to secure a 46-40 win over their rivals from St. Albans Monday afternoon at Alumni Arena in a ‘School Day’ contest played in a front of a sizable student crowd.
“With it being such a big rivalry and the Battle of the Bridge, it always makes it more interesting and more fun for the kids when they are competing against friends,” said Nitro head coach Pat Jones.
“St. Albans is an outstanding basketball team. I told everybody that they are going to be a state tournament team. For us to go out and compete with them as well as we did and even come out with a victory, shows the mentality and the depth of my team.”
The Wildcats (3-1) jumped out to a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the Red Dragons seized control of the game with a dominant second stanza. St. Albans (4-2) outscored the Wildcats 15-6 in the second quarter to take a 26-21 halftime lead.
“We had too many turnovers in the first half. I told them that if we are going to win the game, we have to cut back on our turnovers and we had to box out better. We were giving up too many second and third-chance opportunities around the basket. I felt like in the second half, we came out with more emotion and more energy. We made better passes. We rebounded better.”
Nitro settled in defensively in the third quarter, yielding just six points. Nitro took a 35-32 lead into the final frame.
With 5:30 to play and the game tied at 38, Nitro freshman Brooklyn Cawley hit the first of two critical three-pointers to give the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish.
“Brooklyn Cawley, for a freshman, stepped up big in the third and fourth quarters,” Jones said.
Nitro’s Natalie Smith led all scores with 15 points.
“I told her after the game, ‘That is the kind of game I need from you night in and night out’.”
Karson Jones also scored in double figures for the Wildcats with an 11-point effort. Nunu Panell led St. Albans with 12 points and Shayla Montgomery added 10 points.