Basketball Game Preview: George Jenkins Eagles vs. Bartow Yellow Jackets

George Jenkins has gone 8-2 against Bartow recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The George Jenkins Eagles will be playing in front of their home fans against the Bartow Yellow Jackets at 7:30 p.m. George Jenkins is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.6 points per game this season.

George Jenkins is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Charlotte just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They fell to the Fightin' Tarpons 58-52.

Zakharia Rutledge

Points

01/24/25 @ Charlotte	24
01/22/25 vs Lakeland	7
01/21/25 @ Seffner Christian	25
01/17/25 vs Lake Gibson	10
01/16/25 @ Haines City	15

Despite the defeat, George Jenkins saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Zakharia Rutledge went 9 for 18 en route to 24 points and four steals. With that strong performance, Rutledge is now averaging an impressive 15.2 points per game. Taylor Gibson was another key player, putting up 11 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 62-27, which was the final score in Bartow's tilt against Seffner Christian on Monday. 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 554th, while the Crusaders are ranked 198th).

George Jenkins' loss dropped their record down to 13-8. As for Bartow, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-17.

Everything came up roses for George Jenkins against Bartow in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, as the team secured a 64-9 victory. Will George Jenkins repeat their success, or does Bartow have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.