The Westside Patriots will take on the Baldwin Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Westside's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last seven games.
Last Friday, Westside didn't have too much trouble with Howard as they won 62-48. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 114th, while the Huskies are ranked 384th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Dontrell Jackson
| 02/07/25 @ Howard | 7 |
| 02/04/25 vs Hephzibah | 7 |
| 01/14/25 @ West Laurens | 7 |
| 01/24/25 vs Cross Creek | 5 |
| 01/07/25 vs Howard | 5 |
| + 17 more games |
Dontrell Jackson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 9 of 13 en route to 23 points along with eight boards and seven steals. He has become a key player for Westside: the team is 9-1 when he posts at least five steals, but 7-8 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Aldrion Jones, who dropped a double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds.
Westside smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've posted since back in December of 2024.
Meanwhile, Baldwin really took it to Academy of Richmond County for the full four quarters, racking up an 82-54 win. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Braves had established a 20 point advantage.
Westside better keep an eye on Deven Nelson. He was instrumental in Baldwin's win, shooting 4-for-7 from downtown and dropping a double-double with 42 points and 11 boards. What's more, Nelson also posted a 57% three-point shooting accuracy, which is the highest he's posted since back in December of 2024. Another player making a difference was Karez Demory, who went 8 for 17 on his way to 21 points and six steals.
Baldwin is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 16 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 19-7 record this season. As for Westside, their victory bumped their record up to 16-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Westside has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 38.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Baldwin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Westside came up short against Baldwin in their previous matchup two weeks ago, falling 72-65. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Nelson, who went 8 of 16 to rack up 24 points in addition to six assists and five rebounds. Now that Westside knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
