Basketball Game Preview: South Sumter Raiders vs. Vanguard Knights

Having just played yesterday, the South Sumter Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Vanguard Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, South Sumter was beaten by Belleview 58-19. While losing is never fun, the Raiders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 549th, while the Rattlers are ranked 268th).

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Vanguard on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Santa Fe out of the water with a 63-25 final score. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 33 points or more this season.

Vanguard's win came from a few key players South Sumter will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Melanie Santiago, who went 8 for 14 on her way to 16 points and seven steals. Those 16 points gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Sanaria Gunsby, who went 6 of 9 en route to 13 points in addition to seven boards and five steals.

Vanguard smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.

South Sumter's loss was their eighth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 2-17. As for Vanguard, they now have a winning record of 8-7.

South Sumter was taken down by Vanguard 59-9 when the teams last played back in December of 2024. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point South Sumter was down 40-4.