The Dillon Wildcats had a tough time handling the Marion Swamp Foxes on Tuesday, with the girls falling 82-32 and the boys defeated 81-61.
The Lady Wildcats were up first but were completely overwhelmed by Marion in every quarter.
Marion’s victory was secured by the end of the first, when they scored an impressive 30 points to Dillon’s 6. The Lady Cats were never able to recover from such a large lead, and Marion widened the gap by outscoring Dillon 19-4 in the second to put them up 49-10 at half time.
Though the Lady Cats put up a bit more of a fight in the second half, the Swamp Foxes again outscored them 16-11 and 17-11 to wrap up a brutal game with a final score of Marion 82, Dillon 32.
Candace Wright scored a whopping 44 points and picked up 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Foxes. Tyshanna Lester was the next highest scorer for Marion with 10 points. Also scoring were Alexis Hopins, 9; Krystal Washington, 8; Jasmine Gause, 6; Keyessence Foxworth, 4; Matrice Bryant, 4; Chantae Durant, 3; and Shakerya Edmunds, 2.
The Wildcats were led by Chelsea Frazier with 28 points and Breanna Lee with four.
The loss drops the Lady Cats record to 4-9 overall and 0-2 in the region.
The boys fared only slightly better in their matchup against the Swamp Foxes, managing to score 17 points against Marion’s 21 in the first quarter. The Wildcats rallied in the second to outscore Marion 13-5, giving them a 30-26 lead at the half.
But any momentum they had built was crushed in the third, when Marion rallied to outscore Dillon 33-12 to firmly regain the lead. The Swamp Foxes carried the fourth as well, 22-19, to bring the final score to Marion 81, Dillon 61.
The Swamp Foxes had five players who scored 10 or more points in the game. D.J. Rowell had a game-high 19 points, with Darryl Kelly earning 17, Marqui McKelvy adding 16, Kevin Rowell adding 13, and Justin Gause adding 10. Ira Lee scored four points, and Charles Williams scored two.
Jakell Whittington led the Wildcats with a team-high score of 13 points, followed closely by 12 points from Breon Page. Joseph Park made eight points, and Bryan McCleod and Quincy Bethea each added seven. Bryan Windham added six points; Rashad Miles, five; Lavaris Hargrove, two; and Preston Purnell, one.
The win elevates Marion’s record to 12-4 and leaves them undefeated in the region at 3-0. The Wildcats slip to 3-9 and 0-3 in the region.
Next up, Dillon’s boys and girls teams will host Loris on Friday, January 21, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Loris Lions are 6-9 so far this season, and 1-2 in the region, while the Lady Lions are currently 5-9 and 1-2 in the region.
