Basketball Game Preview: Vanguard Knights vs. North Marion Colts

The Vanguard Knights will venture away from home to challenge the North Marion Colts at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Vanguard easily dispatched South Sumter on Friday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. Vanguard fell just short of Eustis by a score of 41-38 on Tuesday. The Knights haven't had much luck with the Panthers recently, as the team's come up short the last four times they've met.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Sanaria Gunsby, who posted nine points in addition to seven steals and six boards. She is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last six games she's played. Another player making a difference was Kenaria Dowdy, who put up six points and four steals.

Meanwhile, North Marion strolled past Keystone Heights with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 58-43.

North Marion found their leader in freshman JAMEYA BROWN, who went 10 of 22 on her way to 26 points and six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points BROWN has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of JERMEA JACKSON, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Vanguard's loss dropped their record down to 5-3. As for North Marion, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-7 record this season.

Everything came up roses for Vanguard against North Marion in their previous meeting back in January, as the squad secured a 58-12 victory. In that match, Vanguard amassed a halftime lead of 30-9, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.