The Bethlehem Center Bulldogs will take on the West Greene Pioneers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Bethlehem Center is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.4 points per game this season.
Having struggled with five losses in a row, Bethlehem Center turned things around against Burgettstown on Tuesday. They came out on top against the Blue Devils by a score of 50-40.
Jason Zellie was his usual excellent self, putting up 22 points and three steals. Jonah Sussan was another key player, earning ten points and seven boards.
Bethlehem Center smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, West Greene was just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 62-61 to Fort Cherry. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Saturday (57), the Pioneers still had to take the loss.
Bethlehem Center will need focus on slowing down Lane Allison, one of several West Greene players who made an impact when they last played. He went 8 for 15 en route to 24 points. That was a full 39.3% of West Greene's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Parker Burns, who went 7 of 14 on his way to 14 points and seven rebounds.
West Greene's defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 11-8. As for Bethlehem Center, their win ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 9-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Bethlehem Center has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like West Greene struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Bethlehem Center came up short against West Greene when the teams last played back in January, falling 59-55. Will Bethlehem Center have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
