Basketball Game Preview: Westfield Shamrocks vs. Marion Giants

The Westfield Shamrocks will take on the Marion Giants at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Westfield has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Last Saturday, everything came up roses for Westfield against Richmond as the team secured a 71-21 victory. With the Shamrocks ahead 42-4 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Westfield to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jalen Malone, who went 5 of 6 en route to 11 points and six assists. Those six assists gave Malone a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Drew Haffner, who went 5 of 6 on his way to 14 points.

Malone wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Westfield was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, Marion's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They were outmatched by Lawrence North and fell 99-63. While losing is never fun, the Giants can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 65th, while the Wildcats are ranked ninth).

Marion's defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 6-2. As for Westfield, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.