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

The Marion County Red Raiders will square off against the Shoals Christian Flame at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Shoals Christian will be up against a hot Marion County team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. Marion County came out on top against Brilliant by a score of 56-48 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Shoals Christian and Waterloo squared off in some playoff action on Tuesday, but Shoals Christian had to settle for second. They took a 63-59 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Cougars. The Flame haven't had much luck with the Cougars recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.

Marion County will have to contain Sarah Davis (2025) as she made an impact in Shoals Christian's last game. She dropped a double-double on 38 points and 16 rebounds. That was a full 64.4% of Shoals Christian's points, marking the 19th time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. Aariyah Ricks was another key player, putting up nine points and five boards.

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.

Shoals Christian's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-14. As for Marion County, their victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-7.

Marion County beat Shoals Christian 63-56 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Davis (2025), who dropped a double-double on 32 points and 18 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Marion County still be able to contain Davis (2025)? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.