SAINT ALBANS, W.Va. — A tale of two teams headed in opposite directions.

The Point Pleasant boys basketball team defeated the Red Dragons of St. Albans 55-50 Saturday night in Kanawha County. The Big Blacks have now won three games in a row, while St. Albans has lost six consecutive games.

PPHS (4-8) had the long ball working early, hitting four three-pointers in the opening period en route to an 18 point quarter. St. Albans scored 12 points in the first quarter and trailed by six. Point Pleasant knocked home two more triples in the second quarter, sparking a 14-to-8 run before the break. The Big Blacks enjoined a 32-20 advantage at the midway point.

The Red Dragons came out of the half seemingly a different team, out scoring Point Pleasant 16-to-9 in the third period to cut the Big Blacks lead to five points. The hosts scored 14 points over the final eight minutes but PPHS matched them with 14 points to seal the 55-50 victory.

Wade Martin led Point Pleasant with 17 points on the night, followed by Dillon McCarty with 16 and Alex Somerville with 12. Aden Yates finished with six points, while Adam Slack and Andrew Williamson each added two points, rounding out the Big Blacks scoring output.

Somerville connected on four three-pointers in the game, while Martin had three and McCarty had two. Point Pleasant was 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the charity stripe including a perfect 6-for-6 from Martin and a perfect 4-for-4 from McCarty.

Nathan McNeil led the Red Dragons with 21 points, followed by Kevic Watkins with 10 and Tanner Aliff with nine. Taylor Clark and Conner Beck each had four points, while freshman Thaddeus Moss marked two.McNeil and Aliff accounted for the pair of SAHS triples. St. Albans was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.

This is the lone scheduled meeting between St. Albans and the Big Blacks this season.