Basketball Game Preview: Marion Swamp Foxes vs. Lake City Panthers

The Marion Swamp Foxes are taking a road trip to challenge the Lake City Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Marion knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past three games -- so hopefully Lake City likes a good challenge.

Marion is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. Everything went their way against Hunter-Kinard-Tyler last Monday as Marion made off with a 66-42 win.

Marion's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jameir Legette, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 12 boards, and Jaden Gerald, who went 11 of 14 on his way to 24 points and four steals. Those 12 boards gave Legette a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Charles White Jr, who posted nine points.

Marion smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in six consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Lake City played a tough matchup on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were beaten by Atlantic Collegiate Academy 75-39. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 137th, while the Armada are ranked tenth).

Lake City's defeat dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Marion, their record now sits at 5-10.

Things could have been worse for Marion, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 70-56 loss to Lake City in their previous matchup back in December of 2022. Can Marion avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.