Basketball Game Preview: New Philadelphia Quakers vs. Marlington Dukes

The New Philadelphia Quakers will head out to square off against the Marlington Dukes at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Thursday, New Philadelphia narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Ashland 45-43. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Quakers' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 265th, while the Arrows are ranked 86th).

Meanwhile, Marlington came tearing into Wednesday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They breezed by the Aviators to the tune of 52-6.

Marlington's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-10. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 22.3 points per game. As for New Philadelphia, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season.