Basketball Recap: Bartow Comes Up Short

Bartow lost against George Jenkins back in December of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Tuesday. The Bartow Yellow Jackets had to suffer through a 47-7 loss at the hands of the George Jenkins Eagles. While losing is never fun, the Yellow Jackets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 547th, while the Eagles are ranked 113th).

When it comes to explaining why Bartow lost, don't look at Natalia Diaz. Despite the final result, she posted six points.

George Jenkins found their leader in sophomore Zakharia Rutledge, who went 7 for 13 on her way to 14 points and four steals. Taylor Gibson was another key player, putting up eight points in addition to five boards and three steals.

This is the second loss in a row for Bartow and nudges their season record down to 2-18. As for George Jenkins, they pushed their record up to 14-8 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home.

Bartow didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 55-24 defeat against Mulberry on the 30th. As for George Jenkins, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 55-47 win against Lake Region on the 31st.