Basketball Game Preview: North Port Bobcats vs. Venice Indians

The North Port Bobcats will face off against the Venice Indians on Monday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

North Port lost 51-30 to Port Charlotte on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Bobcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 527th, while the Pirates are ranked 94th).

Meanwhile, Venice came up short against Braden River on Friday and fell 63-51. The loss continues a trend for the Indians in their matchups with the Pirates: they've now lost three in a row.

Venice's defeat dropped their record down to 11-14. As for North Port, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost ten of their last 12 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-18 record this season.

North Port came up short against Venice in their previous meeting back in January, falling 61-49. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Venice's Marcel Fil, who almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine boards. Now that North Port knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.