The Lake City Panthers will face off against the Marion Swamp Foxes at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Lake City is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52.2 points per game this season.
Lake City is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Atlantic Collegiate Academy on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Lake City lost 72-51 to Atlantic Collegiate Academy. The Panthers were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 39-11.
Defeat or not, Lake City got some senior leadership from Devin Cockfield and Kenjae Burgess. Cockfield dropped a double-double on 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Burgess went 6 for 12 en route to 16 points. Burgess continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played.
Meanwhile, after a string of seven wins, Marion's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell 57-46 to Atlantic Collegiate Academy. While losing is never fun, the Swamp Foxes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 99th, while the Armada are ranked 17th).
Lake City will have to contain Jaden Gerald as he made an impact in Marion's last game. He posted 21 points. Charles White Jr was another key player, putting up 11 points.
Marion's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-11. As for Lake City, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lake City has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Marion struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.8 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Lake City strolled past Marion in their previous meeting back in December of 2022 by a score of 70-56. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lake City since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
