The Pike Road Patriots will head out to face off against the Marbury Bulldogs at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Pike Road lost 64-39 to Park Crossing on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 87th, while the Thunderbirds are ranked seventh).
Meanwhile, Marbury humbled Holtville with a 69-39 victory. Marbury has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 25 points or more this season.
Marbury's win came from a few key players Pike Road will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Nunu Jernigan, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten boards. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in blocks (three). Justice Blackmon was another key player, going 9 of 22 on her way to 23 points and three steals.
Marbury smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in seven consecutive matchups.
Marbury has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season. As for Pike Road, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-10.
Pike Road came up short against Marbury when the teams last played back in November of 2024, falling 60-53. Can Pike Road avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
