Marlin is 9-1 against Mart since February of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Marlin Bulldogs will head out on the road to face off against the Mart Panthers at 7:15 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Marlin has 12 straight victories, Mart has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Marlin put the finishing touches on their ninth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They breezed by Axtell on the road to the tune of 76-38. Given Marlin's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 443rd, while Axtell is ranked 1134th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jerry Willis continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 14 points along with five rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Mario Hopwood, who scored ten points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, things could have been worse for Mart, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 57-41 loss to Riesel on Tuesday.
Marlin pushed their record up to 15-4 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.8 points per game. As for Mart, their loss dropped their record down to 1-12.
Everything came up roses for Marlin against Mart when the teams last played back in January as the team secured a 80-30 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Marlin since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
