Basketball Recap: Claiborne Comes Up Short + How To Watch

Claiborne extended their losing streak to five on Tuesday, dropping them down to 3-18. They were beaten by the Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders 77-31. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 392nd, while the Highlanders are ranked 66th).

As for Gatlinburg-Pittman, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 15 of their last 16 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-4 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.3 points over those games.

Jayden Barton produced another solid effort dropping a double-double with 23 points and 12 steals. The game was his sixth in a row with at least 21 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Roger Matute, who went 7-for-10 en route to 20 points and five steals.

Coming up, Claiborne will challenge Cumberland Gap at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The Bulldogs will be up against the Panthers' rather soft defense (which has allowed 68.36 points per contest), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance. Gatlinburg-Pittman will be paying especially close attention to Claiborne's matchup: after Claiborne faces off against Cumberland Gap, they'll take on Gatlinburg-Pittman again at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.