The Dillon Wildcats fell 59-49 on the road in Marion on Tuesday night as Marqui McKelvy returned to the Swamp Fox lineup to score his 1,000th career point.
Marion took an 18-13 lead over the Dillon boys in the first quarter but the Wildcats tried to make up ground with a 13-10 second to trail 28-26 at the half. But Marion outscored Dillon 19-9 in the third, and a 14-12 rally from the Wildcats in the fourth wasn’t enough to close the gap.
McKelvy, who missed the first half of the season due to his grades, led all scorers in his return with a game-high 25 points and picked up 12 rebounds. Kevin Rowell scored 17 points with 16 rebounds, and Michael Outlaw scored nine. Terry Wiggins added six points for Marion, and Jakkari Godbold earned two.
Jalik Bethea led Dillon with a team-high 14 points, Shaqui Cabbagestalk added nine, and John Caulder scored eight in the loss. Breon Page and Olajuwan Fenton each scored four; Julius Saunders and Maurice Williams both scored three; and Anthony Blue and Eri’Reon Hayes each added two points for the Wildcats.
Dillon slips to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in Region 8-2A, while Marion improves to 12-4 overall and 3-0 in the region. The Swamp Foxes were recently ranked fifth in the state in Class AA boys’ basketball by the South Carolina Coaches Association.
Dillon was scheduled to travel to Latta to take on the Vikings on Wednesday night and tonight they’ll be on the road to face Loris. Then on Tuesday, the Wildcats will travel to Waccamaw to face the Warriors before returning home on Friday, January 25 to host Aynor. Make plans to attend home games to support our local teams!
