Basketball Game Preview: Barberton Magics vs. Tallmadge Blue Devils

The Barberton Magics are taking a road trip to square off against the Tallmadge Blue Devils at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Barberton is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Cuyahoga Falls last Saturday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Barberton lost 47-26 to Cuyahoga Falls. The loss continues a trend for the Magics in their matchups with the Black Tigers: they've now lost seven in a row.

Meanwhile, Tallmadge had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.5 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Saturday. They escaped with a win against the Bulldogs by the margin of a single free throw, 50-49. Given the Blue Devils' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while the Bulldogs are ranked 518th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Tallmadge pushed their record up to 8-2 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.3 points per game. As for Barberton, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-8.

Barberton took a serious blow against Tallmadge in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, falling 51-23. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Barberton was down 26-4.