Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On Friday, November 21st, the Marshall High School girls basketball team opened their home slate by hosting Altamont High School in a non-conference doubleheader inside McNary Gymnasium in front of a big crowd on a dreary, rainy night in east central Illinois. It was Beach Night for the Marshall student section, and the best band in the Midwest, the Marshall High School pep band, was on hand throughout the evening.
Both varsity squads came into the game with each sporting a record of 1-0. The Lions defeated Tuscola in their first game of the season by 7 earlier in the week, while the Lady Indians defeated Vandalia by 20. In the junior varsity game, Marshall once again got balanced scoring, this time led by Aubree Shaffer’s 10 points, to beat Altamont by the score of 43-20. In the varsity contest, Altamont broke out to a 24-8 lead in the first quarter before Marshall mounted a comeback to take their first lead of the game in the third. The Lions maintained their lead through the middle of the fourth quarter, building it up at one point to 10 before Altamont closed out the contest by outscoring the Lions 21-7 down the stretch to win the game 65-60.
The varsity contest began with Altamont scoring at will both inside and outside to break out to a 24-8 lead before Marshall’s Ella Mattas got the Lions into double figures with under a minute to play in the opening quarter. At the end of one, the Lady Indians were holding a commanding 24-10 lead. Other scorers for Marshall in the first quarter were Lynn Welborn with four points, and Harper Richardson and Karsyn Johnson with 2 points each. In the first quarter alone, Altamont sank five three-pointers as Marshall’s defense could not match the intensity of Altamont’s offense.
In the second quarter, the Lions shut down the three-point line as they mounted a charge back into the game. The Lions outscored the Lady Indians 23-11 in the stanza as Marlee Heighton, Lynn Welborn, and Lilly Ross each scored 6 points to lead the way. McKenzie Davis had a marvelous three-point play to bring the Lions within 10 points. Davis’ play seemed to ignite the Big Red, who went on to trail by only two points at the half 35-33. Harper Richardson also got into the scoring column with a nice breakout play and score midway through the quarter.
In the first couple minutes of the third quarter, neither team scored until Lynn Welborn hit a free throw for Marshall to get within one with the score 35-34. After a big stop on defense, the Lions came up the floor with a chance to take the lead which was inconceivable in the first quarter. The Lions worked the ball down to Lynn Welborn on the left baseline, who sank a jumper to give the Lions their first lead of the game at 36-35.
Altamont responded by sinking their only three-pointer of the second half to take a 39-36 lead , but the Lions came right back and tied it at 39 with a huge three-pointer by Ella Mattas from the right baseline. A seesaw battle ensued with both teams scoring to make the score 43-42 in favor of Altamont. With 2:12 to go in the quarter, Marlee Heighton sank a jumper to move the Lions ahead 44-43, then after a free throw by Lynn Welborn to make the score 45-43, Addy Ross grabbed a big rebound on the defensive end. The Lions came up on the offensive end, and Lynn Welborn was fouled as she went up inside. Welborn sank both free throws to give Marshall a 47-43 lead with a minute to go on the clock. As the clock winded down to zero, Addy Ross grabbed another big rebound on the defensive end as she was fouled at the buzzer. Ross calmly stepped up to the free throw line with no time on the clock, and she sank both free throws for Marshall to take a 49-43 lead into the final 8 minutes of play.
On the first possession of the fourth quarter, Addy Ross gave the Lions an 8-point lead when she scored inside to make the score 51-43. After the Lady Indians came up empty on their next possession, Marshall ran an out-of-bounds play, with Marlee Heighton throwing the ball in to Addy Ross, who curled down the right side of the lane. Ross gathered the pass and went up and scored to give the Lions a 10-point lead at 53-43.
Altamont went inside to their bigs, who scored easily to cut the Lions’ lead in half to make it 53-48 in a little over a minute. Lynn Welborn scored for the Lions to go back up by 7 with the score 55-48, but the Lady Indians found their way back inside for easy buckets at the rim. The Lions had no answer for the twin towers of Altamont in the lane.
During the last four minutes of the game, Altamont outscored Marshall 17-5 to run away with the game by the score of 65-60. Scoring down the stretch for the Lions were Marlee Heighton and Lynn Welborn, who combined for the only five points during the final four minutes of the ballgame.
Altamont got balance scoring from the inside and the outside, led by their two seniors, Alannah Popischel and Kaylee Lurkins, who each had 16 points. The Lady Indians had four players in double figures during the win.
For Marshall, Lynn Welborn had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Marlee Heighton had 12 points and 7 boards. Lilly Ross had 9 points and 3 rebounds, while Addy Ross, who provided a huge spark for the Lions in the late third/early fourth quarters, finished with 6 points and 2 big rebounds. Ella Mattas scored 5 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Harper Richardson finished with 4 points and 4 boards. McKenzie Davis ended with 3 points and 5 rebounds. Karsyn Johnson had 2 points and 2 rebounds, while Caitlyn Hilliard finished the night with 2 rebounds.
In the junior varsity game which preceded the varsity contest, the first quarter was slow going for each team, with Marshall leading by the score of 4-3 after the first 7 minutes of play. McKenzie Davis broke the seal on the basket by scoring the first two points of the game at the 2:56 mark. Karsyn Johnson scored the other bucket for the Lions from the right-side block after taking a pass from Aubree Shaffer as she flew out of bounds on the baseline to save the ball.
In the second quarter, Marshall got into a rhythm and got their transition game going for breakaway layups. After McKenzie Davis scored on a nice out of bounds pass from Lilly Ross to put Marshall ahead 8-3, the Lions would turn defense into offense quickly using Aubree Shaffer’s speed to outrace Altamont defenders to the goal. Shaffer scored 6 points in the quarter as the Lions took a 16-9 lead into the half. Lilly Ross and Kyla Gustafson also scored for Marshall in the stanza.
In the third quarter, Marshall outscored Altamont 14-4 to take a commanding 30-13 lead into the fourth. Nya Engledow and Lilly Ross each dialed in a three-pointer, and Ross also scored on a nice drive down the lane. Aubree Shaffer scored on a breakaway, and Karsyn Johnson hit a nice shot from the side, and Aria Ogle had quality minutes in the third quarter as she scored a bucket from the left block.
The Lions were content to trade baskets in the fourth quarter 2 for 1 with Altamont to outscore the Lady Indians 13-7 to win the game by the score of 43-20. Nya Engledow hit another three-pointer, this time from up top. Aubree Shaffer, Lilly Ross, Kyla Gustafson, and Karsyn Johnson also scored, and in the final minute of play, Marshall’s Jayden Jones scored a bucket and grabbed a rebound just before time expired to close out the win for the Lions.
For the Marshall JV squad, Aubree Shaffer led the way in scoring with 10 points. Lilly Ross (5 rebounds) had 8, while Nya Engledow (1 rebound) and Karsyn Johnson (2 rebounds) each scored 6. Kyla Gustafson, who led the team with 12 rebounds, had 5 points, and McKenzie Davis (8 rebounds) had 4 points. Aria Ogle and Jayden Jones (1 rebound) each finished the game with 2 points.
Marshall (1-1) plays their next game Monday evening when they travel to Lakeland College to take on the Neoga Lady Indians in a non-conference doubleheader inside the Roundhouse at LLC in Mattoon. Tipoff for the junior varsity contest is scheduled for 6:00 PM.