Basketball Game Preview: Shoals Christian Flame vs. Marion County Red Raiders

The Shoals Christian Flame will head out to square off against the Marion County Red Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Shoals Christian heads in on the heels of a playoff match on Tuesday. They took a 63-59 hit to the loss column at the hands of Waterloo. The defeat continues a trend for the Flame in their matchups with the Cougars: they've now lost three in a row.

Shoals Christian might have lost, but man, Sarah Davis (2025) was a machine: she dropped a double-double on 38 points and 16 boards. The contest was Davis (2025)'s 19th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Aariyah Ricks, who posted nine points and five rebounds.

Even though they lost, Shoals Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 11 consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Marion County entered their tilt with Brilliant on Tuesday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They came out on top against the Tigers by a score of 56-48.

Shoals Christian's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-14. As for Marion County, they are on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 21-7 record this season.

Shoals Christian came up short against Marion County in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 63-56. Can Shoals Christian avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.