South is 9-1 against Marion-Franklin since December of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the South Bulldogs will get right back to it and host the Marion-Franklin Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. on January 26th. South is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last five games.
South put the finishing touches on their fifth blowout victory of the season on Thursday. Everything went their way against Eastmoor Academy as South made off with a 71-48 win. Given South's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while Eastmoor Academy is ranked 530th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Chris Stokes continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 32 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Maurice Mccall, who scored 14 points.
Meanwhile, Marion-Franklin unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a 59-52 hit to the loss column at the hands of West.
Marion-Franklin's defeat came about despite a quality game from Terry Black, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 13 rebounds. Black is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last seven games he's played. Another player making a difference was Neko Tuff, who scored six points along with five rebounds and two steals.
South's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.8 points per game. As for Marion-Franklin, their loss dropped their record down to 8-7.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as South and Marion-Franklin are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. South hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 61.9 points per game. However, it's not like Marion-Franklin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 58.2 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
South strolled past Marion-Franklin when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a score of 61-44. Does South have another victory up their sleeve, or will Marion-Franklin turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
