Basketball Game Preview: DeSoto County Bulldogs vs. Port Charlotte Pirates

DeSoto County is 1-9 against Port Charlotte since November of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The DeSoto County Bulldogs just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Port Charlotte Pirates at 7:30 p.m. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

DeSoto County will head into Thursday's contest having proved themselves against Avon Park: DeSoto County took a 86-point loss the last time they faced off against Avon Park, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. DeSoto County had just enough and edged Avon Park out 2-0. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 94th, while the Red Devils are ranked 523rd), the result on Thursday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Port Charlotte was fully in charge on Wednesday, breezing past Palmetto 61-32. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 40-14.

The victory made it two in a row for Port Charlotte and bumps their season record up to 10-6. As for DeSoto County, their record is now 13-3.

DeSoto County took a serious blow against Port Charlotte in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, falling 56-29. Can DeSoto County avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.