Basketball Game Preview: Archbishop Carroll Bulldogs vs. Braddock Bulldogs

The Archbishop Carroll Bulldogs will square off against the Braddock Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

On Wednesday, Archbishop Carroll came up short against Florida Christian and fell 58-46. The Bulldogs haven't had much luck with the Patriots recently, as the team's come up short the last four times they've met.

Meanwhile, Braddock also suffered a loss in their last game, but this one to Central by a score of 66-53. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 432nd, while the Rockets are ranked 47th).

Archbishop Carroll will need focus on slowing down Luca De La Paz, one of several Braddock players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten boards. De La Paz is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Ray Estay, who posted 13 points.

Braddock has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-14 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.3 points per game. As for Archbishop Carroll, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-8.

Archbishop Carroll ended up a good deal behind Braddock when the teams last played back in December of 2023, losing 74-60. Thankfully for Archbishop Carroll, Aden Aguilar (who went 9 for 14 en route to 22 points in addition to seven assists and six rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.