Sumter is 10-0 against Socastee since February of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Sumter Gamecocks will be playing at home against the Socastee Braves at 6:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Sumter has 16 straight wins, Socastee has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Sumter stacked a 13th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They took their matchup at home with ease, bagging a 51-9 win over St. James. Given Sumter's advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked fourth, while St. James is ranked 110th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Sumter had a senior duo take command as Kiara Croskey scored 17 points along with eight steals and Rickell Brown scored 17 points along with five steals. Croskey is absolutely dominating the point category: she's posted at least 15 every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Araina Ross, who scored eight points along with two steals.
Socastee suffered their biggest loss since December 20, 2023 on Friday. They took a serious blow against Carolina Forest, falling 59-12. Socastee was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 24-4.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Socastee struggled to work together and finished the game with only two assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Carolina Forest racked up 15 assists.
Sumter's win was their 15th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-0. They've been dominating during the matchups in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 30.33 points. As for Socastee, their loss dropped their record down to 5-13.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Sumter hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 70 points per game. It's a different story for Socastee, though, as they've been averaging only 30.3 points per game. The only thing between Sumter and another offensive beatdown is Socastee. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Everything came up roses for Sumter against Socastee in their previous matchup two weeks ago as the squad secured a 86-32 win. Will Sumter repeat their success, or does Socastee have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
