Basketball Game Preview: Bessemer City Yellow Jackets vs. Shelby Golden Lions

Bessemer City hasn't had much luck against Shelby recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Bessemer City Yellow Jackets just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Shelby Golden Lions at 5:30 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Tuesday, Bessemer City blew past East Gaston, posting a 67-16 win. The Yellow Jackets have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 24 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Shelby didn't have too much trouble with Highland Tech on Friday as they won 45-30. Given the Golden Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 217th, while the Rams are ranked 481st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Bessemer City better keep an eye on Dereon Kee. She was instrumental in Shelby's win, putting up 19 points and six steals. The contest was Kee's third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Da'Mani French, who posted nine points along with five boards and three steals.

Shelby smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in seven consecutive matchups.

Shelby is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-7 record this season. As for Bessemer City, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 11-9.

Bessemer City came up short against Shelby when the teams last played back in January, falling 68-62. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kee, who went 8 for 18 on her way to 23 points in addition to eight rebounds and five assists. Now that Bessemer City knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.