Recap: Carolina Forest Panthers vs. Sumter Gamecocks
It was a good run, but the Carolina Forest Panthers unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They were dealt a 62-32 loss at the hands of Sumter. While losing is never fun, Carolina Forest can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 39th, while Sumter is ranked fourth).
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Rachel Durkin, who scored four points along with two steals. Durkin has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last eight times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Madison Hoffman, who scored eight points.
Sumter's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Araina Ross, who scored 19 points along with five steals. Ross is on a roll when it comes to points, as she's now scored 15 or more in the last three games she's played. Kiara Croskey was another key contributor, scoring 21 points along with three steals.
Carolina Forest's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 12-5. As for Sumter, they pushed their record up to 15-0 with that win, which was their 14th straight at home.
Carolina Forest will head out on the road to square off against Socastee at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Socastee focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 26 on Tuesday. As for Sumter, they will be playing in front of their home fans against St. James at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. St. James' defense has only allowed 28 points per game this season, so Sumter's offense will have their work cut out for them.
