Jacksonville is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Anniston is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Jacksonville Golden Eagles will be home for the holidays to greet the Anniston Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Jacksonville strolled past Cleburne County with points to spare, taking the game 48-33. Given Jacksonville's advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 42nd, while Cleburne County is ranked 264th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Jacksonville to victory, but perhaps none more so than Aaron Nixon, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds. The match was Nixon's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Devin Barksdale was another key contributor, scoring 17 points.
Meanwhile, Anniston didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Alexandria on Tuesday, but they still walked away with a 44-39 win. That's two games straight that Anniston has won by exactly five points.
Jacksonville's win bumped their record up to 10-3. As for Anniston, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
Jacksonville took their win against Anniston in their previous matchup back in February of 2022 by a conclusive 77-53. Will Jacksonville repeat their success, or does Anniston have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
