Basketball Game Preview: Paoli Rams vs. Orleans Bulldogs

The Paoli Rams will venture away from home to face off against the Orleans Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Orleans will be up against a hot Paoli squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Paoli simply couldn't be stopped on Tuesday as they easily beat Salem 71-44. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 75th, while the Lions are ranked 331st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Orleans over Eastern in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Orleans blew Eastern out of the water with a 66-27 final score. The Bulldogs pushed the score to 57-20 by the end of the third, a deficit the Musketeers had no chance of recovering from.

Paoli better focus on containing Rylan Crocker and Alex DeWitt as the pair were huge in Orleans' win. Crocker went 7-for-12 en route to 21 points, while DeWitt went 7-for-8 to rack up 17 points. DeWitt is also on a roll when it comes to shooting accuracy, as he's posted one of at least 60% in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Bryce Jones, who posted six points in addition to eight boards and seven assists.

Paoli's record is now 15-2. As for Orleans, their victory was their 17th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-2.

Paoli came up short against Orleans in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 49-36. Can Paoli avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.