Basketball Game Preview: St. Pauls Bulldogs vs. West Bladen Knights

St. Pauls has gone 10-0 against West Bladen recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The St. Pauls Bulldogs will venture away from home to challenge the West Bladen Knights at 6:00 p.m. St. Pauls is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.1 points per game this season.

St. Pauls is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Fairmont just ended the team's six-game winning streak two weeks ago. They took a hard 54-40 fall against the Golden Tornadoes. The matchup marked the Bulldogs' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Despite the loss, St. Pauls got top-tier performance from Zhari Shipman, who went 10 for 24 on her way to 30 points in addition to eight boards and five assists. Shipman has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 11 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Zakoreya Davis, who posted four points in addition to 14 rebounds and three blocks.

Even though they lost, St. Pauls smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive boards in seven consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for West Bladen, who bounced back after a loss on the road back in December of 2024. In a tight matchup that could have gone either way, they made off with a 54-53 win over South Columbus.

West Bladen's victory ended a nine-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 3-7. As for St. Pauls, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-2.

Everything came up roses for St. Pauls against West Bladen when the teams last played back in February of 2024, as the squad secured a 71-32 win. In that game, St. Pauls amassed a halftime lead of 40-15, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Tuesday.