Preview: Batesburg-Leesville Panthers vs. Pelion Panthers
Batesburg-Leesville is 4-0 against Pelion since December of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Batesburg-Leesville Panthers the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome the Pelion Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on January 19th. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Batesburg-Leesville struggled with offensive rebounds on Tuesday (Fox Creek had 16 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Batesburg-Leesville lost to Fox Creek at home by a decisive 56-38 margin. Batesburg-Leesville has struggled against Fox Creek recently, as their game on Tuesday was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Ta'Maj Gilliam, who scored 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jr Stewart, who scored eight points along with two steals and two blocks.
Meanwhile, things could have been worse for Pelion, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 61-45 loss to Strom Thurmond on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Pelion can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 279th, while Strom Thurmond is ranked 91st).
Batesburg-Leesville's loss dropped their record down to 7-6. As for Pelion, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-9 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Batesburg-Leesville against Pelion when the teams last played back in February of 2023 as the squad secured a 44-14 victory. Will Batesburg-Leesville repeat their success, or does Pelion have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
