The Marianna Bulldogs and the Bethlehem Wildcats will face off at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday without much rest having both just played. Marianna is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.
On Tuesday, Marianna lost to Rutherford at home by a 66-49 margin. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 324th, while the Rams are ranked 54th).
Despite their loss, Marianna saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Dessiah Gee, who went 6 of 15 on her way to 21 points, was perhaps the best of all. Gee continues to improve, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Harmoni Gibson, who posted 11 points.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bethlehem). They claimed a resounding 69-29 victory over Covenant Christian. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Wildcats considering their 25-point performance the game before.
Bethlehem is also on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-11 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 23.7 points per game. As for Marianna, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-13.
Marianna beat Bethlehem 44-31 when the teams last played back in December of 2024. Will Marianna repeat their success, or does Bethlehem have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
