Basketball Game Preview: Socastee Braves vs. Carolina Forest Panthers

After both having extra time off, the Socastee Braves and the Carolina Forest Panthers will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Socastee has now lost eight straight, leaving the team hunting for their first win since December 17.

Socastee fought the good fight in their overtime match against Conway last Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 64-56 to the Tigers. While losing is never fun, the Braves can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 73rd, while the Tigers are ranked 14th).

The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Bryson Sams and Trevon Johnson. Johnson had a great game and posted 18 points and four steals. Meanwhile, Sams was balling out in the loss, going 7 for 12 en route to 32 points.

Meanwhile, Carolina Forest lost to Myrtle Beach on the road by a 55-38 margin last Friday. The game marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Socastee will have to contain Zechariah Gardner as he made an impact in Carolina Forest's last game. He earned seven points and six boards. Nick Zincone was another key player, putting up nine points and six rebounds.

Socastee's loss dropped their record down to 7-10. As for Carolina Forest, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-4.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Socastee has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 22.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Carolina Forest struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Socastee came up short against Carolina Forest in their previous matchup on January 7th, falling 78-73. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Carolina Forest's JJ Gray, who dropped a double-double on 27 points and 12 boards. Now that Socastee knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.