The Marlington Dukes's 24-3 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They took a 55-46 hit to the loss column at the hands of Carrollton on Wednesday. While losing is never fun, Marlington can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 286th, while Carrollton is ranked 60th).
Carrollton got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Hillari Baker out in front who scored 16 points. The matchup was Baker's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Demi Leary, who scored 12 points.
Marlington bumped their record down to 4-7 with that loss, which was their fourth straight on the road. As for Carrollton, the victory (which was their sixth in a row) raised their record to 10-1.
Marlington will head out on the road to face off against Tuscarawas Valley at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tuscarawas Valley knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three matchups -- so hopefully Marlington likes a good challenge. As for Carrollton, they will be playing at home against East Liverpool at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday. Hopefully East Liverpool focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 21 last Friday.
