The Dudley Panthers will head out on the road to square off against the Eastern Guilford Wildcats at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Dudley is looking to tack on another W to their five-game streak on the road.
Dudley pushed their score all the way to 69 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Southern Guilford 73-69. While losing is never fun, Dudley can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 159th, while Southern Guilford is ranked 42nd).
Dudley's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Cortney "CJ" Jones, who scored 23 points, and Jerron Blackwell who scored 17 points along with five rebounds. Jones is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Carlos "CJ" Neely, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Eastern Guilford's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fifth straight loss. They were beaten by Ben L. Smith 88-37. Eastern Guilford has struggled against Ben L. Smith recently, as their game on Friday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Dudley's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 7-6. As for Eastern Guilford, their loss dropped their record down to 1-15.
Everything came up roses for Dudley against Eastern Guilford in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 as the team secured a 77-34 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Dudley since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
