Basketball Game Preview: Bath Wildcats vs. Defiance Bulldogs

Bath is 1-9 against Defiance since January of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Bath Wildcats will head out on the road to challenge the Defiance Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. Bath has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.

Bath is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their game on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 78-39 win over Perry. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 23 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Defiance, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. They strolled past Napoleon with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 53-38. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 145th, while the Wildcats are ranked 394th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Defiance pushed their record up to 14-4 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.3 points per game. As for Bath, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-7 record this season.

Bath couldn't quite finish off Defiance when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 38-35. Can Bath avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.