Basketball Game Preview: Brantley Bulldogs vs. Elba Tigers

Brantley is 1-9 against Elba since December of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Brantley Bulldogs will be playing in front of their home fans against the Elba Tigers at 4:00 p.m.

Brantley is likely headed into the game with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Kinston on Tuesday. Brantley fell to Kinston 60-54. While Brantley didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating Kinston 19-14 in the first quarter.

Despite the loss, Brantley saw an underclassman step up: sophomore CoCo Stamps went 8 for 15 on her way to 20 points in addition to six rebounds and six steals. Stamps has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 32 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Alex Grimes, who went 7 for 12 on her way to 15 points in addition to six boards and three steals.

Even though they lost, Brantley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 16 consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Elba entered their tilt with Red Level on Tuesday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They blew past the Tigers 60-9. Elba has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Elba has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season. As for Brantley, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-7.

Brantley suffered a grim 56-33 defeat to Elba in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Will Brantley have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.