Basketball Game Preview: M.L. King Lions vs. Midtown Knights

The M.L. King Lions will face off against the Midtown Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 85-12, which was the final score in M.L. King's tilt against Creekside on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 381st, while the Seminoles are ranked 18th).

Meanwhile, Midtown entered their tilt with Forest Park on Tuesday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They blew past the Panthers 63-11. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 contests by 23 points or more this season.

M.L. King better keep an eye on Devin Bockman. She was instrumental in Midtown's win, going 9 for 14 on her way to 26 points and four steals. The match was Bockman's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Hailey Wortmann, who posted ten points.

Midtown smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in three consecutive games.

Midtown has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-3 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.3 points. As for M.L. King, they dropped their record down to 5-15 with the loss, which was their sixth straight on the road.

M.L. King took a serious blow against Midtown in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, falling 84-8. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bockman, who went 11 of 15 en route to 30 points along with six boards and six steals. Now that M.L. King knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.