Basketball Game Preview: Bristol Panthers vs. John F. Kennedy Catholic Eagles

Bristol is 2-8 against John F. Kennedy Catholic since March of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Bristol Panthers will square off against the John F. Kennedy Catholic Eagles at 4:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Bristol is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They walked away with a 55-47 victory over Central Christian. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Panthers.

Meanwhile, John F. Kennedy Catholic was fully in charge on Wednesday, breezing past Badger 71-27. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matches by 21 points or more this season.

John F. Kennedy Catholic's win came from a few key players Bristol will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Nick Ryan, who almost dropped a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds. He has been hot for a while, having posted 15 or more points the last 36 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Preston Geracitano, who went 6-for-8 from beyond the arc to rack up 22 points.

Bristol's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-7. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.0 points over those games. As for John F. Kennedy Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 15-9.

Bristol came up short against John F. Kennedy Catholic in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, falling 79-73. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ryan, who dropped a double-double with 26 points and ten boards. Now that Bristol knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.