Basketball Game Preview: Martinsburg Bulldogs vs. Musselman Applemen

Martinsburg and Musselman are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2020, but not for long. The Martinsburg Bulldogs will be playing in front of their home fans against the Musselman Applemen at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Musselman will be up against a hot Martinsburg squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Everything went Martinsburg's way against Jefferson on Tuesday as Martinsburg made off with a 45-24 win. The Bulldogs pushed the score to 39-11 by the end of the third, a deficit the Cougars cut but never quite recovered from.

Addyson Strovel and Tianna Sanabria were among the main playmakers for Martinsburg as the former dropped a double-double on ten points and 14 boards and the latter posted 12 points and six steals. That's the most points Sanabria has posted since back in January of 2024.

Meanwhile, Musselman got the win against Fort Hill on Friday by a conclusive 62-39. Given the Applemen's advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 22nd in West Virginia, while the Sentinels are ranked 139th in Maryland), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Musselman has also been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 27 points. As for Martinsburg, their victory bumped their record up to 7-2.

Things could have been worse for Martinsburg, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 50-36 loss to Musselman when the teams last played back in February of 2024. Can Martinsburg avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.