Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On Monday, November 24th, the Marshall High School boys varsity basketball team traveled to Waldrip Gymnasium on the campus of Cumberland High School to play in the opening round of the Cumberland Turkey Tournament to kick off the 2025-2026 season. The Lions, seeded third in the tournament, took on the #6 seed Dieterich High School Movin’ Maroons in front of a big crowd cheering both squads.
Marshall got on the board first when Payton McGuire sank a three-pointer from deep along the right wing to give the Lions a 3-0 lead with just under a minute gone off the clock. Dieterich then scored 5 straight points to take a 5-3 lead before Marshall’s Liam Keim grabbed an offensive rebound, and he put the ball back up and in to tie the game at 5. After the Maroons went ahead 7-5, Marshall’s Tommy Sheehy had an offensive rebound and put back for the first two points of his career at the 3:54 mark, tying the game at 7 apiece.
With Marshall trailing 11-7 with 2 ½ to go in the opening quarter, Zach Jones scored for the Lions to get within 2 at 11-9. Garrett Pugh scored off an offensive rebound a minute later, tying the game at 11. Dieterich scored three points down the stretch in the stanza, but Payton McGuire stole the ball and went coast to coast to get the Lions within one with the score 14-13 Dieterich after one quarter of play.
Bryce Griguhn scored the first bucket of quarter #2 to give the Lions a 15-14 lead, then Payton McGuire again stole the ball on the defensive end and went coast to coast to score, giving the Big Red a 3-point lead at 17-14. Dieterich responded by scoring 9 straight points to take a 23-17 lead as the clock winded down under a minute before halftime. Payton McGuire drilled a three-pointer from the left wing with 46 seconds to go before the half to make it 23-20, and after Dieterich sank a free throw, the teams went to halftime with Marshall trailing 24-20. In the first half, the Lions went 0 for 7 from the free throw line.
In the second half, Dieterich built a ten-point lead in the first two minutes of the third quarter to take a 30-20 lead as Marshall had trouble dialing it in from the outside. Payton McGuire scored at the hoop to make it 30-22, then McGuire sank the first free throw of the night for Marshall at the 5:22 mark of the third to make it 30-23. Garrett Pugh followed with a bucket to get the Lions within 5 at 30-25. Payton McGuire scored again to trim Dieterich’s lead to one possession with the score 30-27 before the Maroons scored 4 straight down the stretch to take a 7-point lead heading into the fourth quarter with the score 34-27.
Marshall played smothering defense throughout the fourth quarter, holding Dieterich to just four points for the first 7 minutes and 59 ½ seconds. With Payton McGuire and Garrett Pugh scoring all of Marshall’s points in the entire second half, the Lions went to their seniors in crunch time, and they responded by getting the Lions back into the ballgame. With just under a half-minute to go on the clock, Garrett Pugh drove 3/4 length of the court and scored at the rim to put Marshall ahead 37-36 with 28.4 seconds to go. After Dieterich scored to take a one-point lead 38-37 at the 16.8 mark, Marshall came back down the floor and worked the ball back into Pugh. and with 4.1 seconds remaining, Pugh spun and softly banked home a shot from the right block to give Marshall a 39-38 lead as the Lions fans roared in the bleachers.
On the ensuing play, Marshall had a foul to give, and with 1.9 seconds left on the clock, Dieterich inbounded the ball from 3/4 court on the near side. The ball went to Dieterich’s Ezra Cook, who chucked up a prayer right before the buzzer sounded as he drifted out of bounds on the right wing with two Lions guarding him, and the shot fell through the hoop to give the Maroons a 41-39 win over Marshall.
Payton McGuire led all scorers on the night with 23 points, while Garrett Pugh had 8 points to go along with a team-leading 8 rebounds. Liam Keim, Bryce Griguhn, Tommy Sheehy, and Zach Jones each had 2 points, all coming in the first half. For the game, Marshall shot 27% from the free-throw line (3 for 11) and 18% from three-point range (3 for 17). Those glaring stats proved to be their undoing although their defense in the second half was sound.
The Lions (0-1) move to the consolation bracket semifinal round of the Cumberland Turkey Tournament where they still have a chance to finish the tournament with the same record as last year (2-1). The Lions play Vandalia in a game scheduled for 4:30 PM this Friday afternoon (November 28th) at Cumberland High School for the opportunity to play for the consolation championship on Saturday.
Peyton McGuire led Lions scorers with 23 points