Basketball Game Preview: Etowah Blue Devils vs. Gaston Bulldogs

Having just played yesterday, the Etowah Blue Devils will head out on the road to face off against the Gaston Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.

On Thursday, Etowah came up short against Hokes Bluff and fell 39-32. While losing is never fun, the Blue Devils can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 299th, while the Eagles are ranked 143rd).

Meanwhile, Gaston had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They claimed a resounding 50-20 win over the Raiders. The game marked the Bulldogs' most dominant victory of the season.

Gaston pushed their record up to 7-11 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.8 points per game. As for Etowah, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-14 record this season.

Etowah came out on top in a nail-biter against Gaston when the teams last played two weeks ago, sneaking past 41-38. The rematch might be a little tougher for Etowah since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.