Basketball Game Preview: St. Pauls Bulldogs vs. Goldsboro Cougars

The St. Pauls Bulldogs will venture away from home to challenge the Goldsboro Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

St. Pauls is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They breezed past James Kenan to the tune of 75-42. The victory was nothing new for the Bulldogs as they're now sitting on three straight.

Zakoreya Davis

Blocked Shots

02/25/25 vs James Kenan	4
02/14/25 @ Midway	4
02/11/25 @ Clinton	4
02/07/25 @ Fairmont	2
02/04/25 vs Red Springs	3
01/31/25 vs West Bladen	6

Zakoreya Davis was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. She has been hot, having also posted two or more blocks the last six times she's played. Ava Monroe was another key player, going 7-for-10 to rack up 16 points.

St. Pauls smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in December of 2024.

Meanwhile, Goldsboro entered their tilt with J.F. Webb on Tuesday with 13 consecutive wins , and they'll enter their next game with 14. They claimed a resounding 68-34 win over the Warriors. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 68th in North Carolina, while the Warriors are ranked 394th in North Carolina), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Goldsboro pushed their record up to 23-2 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.3 points over those games. As for St. Pauls, their win bumped their record up to 20-4.

Everything came up roses for St. Pauls against Goldsboro in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, as the squad secured a 68-13 victory. In that game, St. Pauls amassed a halftime lead of 34-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.