The Lake City Panthers and the Mullins Auctioneers will compete for holiday cheer at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Tuesday, Lake City was able to grind out a solid victory over Kingstree, taking the game 43-35. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Blazers: they've now won four in a row.
Lake City's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Amari Hanna, who posted 11 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jeffery Burgess, who put up 11 points and six rebounds.
Lake City was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. They are 3-1 when they've passed the ball that well.
Meanwhile, Mullins didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Marlboro County on Wednesday, but they still walked away with a 57-53 win. Things were looking grim for the Auctioneers in the first quarter (they were down by 40) but they stormed back to get the contest.
Lake City better focus on containing Deyon Ford and Dakarai Worley as the pair were huge in Mullins' win. Ford shot 46% from the field on his way to 21 points, while Worley dropped a double-double with 12 points and ten boards. Worley has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 11 times he's played. Another player making a difference was Ken 'KJ' Ford, Jr., who earned four points.
Lake City's victory bumped their record up to 3-4. As for Mullins, the win got them back to even at 3-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lake City has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 25.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Mullins struggles in that department as they've been averaging 40.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Lake City didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Mullins in their previous matchup back in January, but they still walked away with a 57-51 victory. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Auctioneers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
