Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
The Marshall Lady Lions basketball team hosted the Mount Carmel High School Lady Aces in the Little Illini Conference opening game for both schools on Thursday, December 4th inside McNary Gymnasium on the campus of Marshall High School. Marshall came into the game with a record of 2-1, while Mount Carmel came in on a four-game winning streak after dropping their first three games of the season against Castle, which is an Indiana Class 3A ranked school, and two Illinois undefeated squads in Marion and Teutopolis. In the Lady Aces last game, they traveled to Flora and defeated the Wolfgals by the score of 56-17.
In the junior varsity contest, Mount Carmel jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Marshall’s Harper Richardson scored inside with 3:05 left on the clock. Richardson’s points were the only ones for Marshall as they trailed after one quarter of play 11-2.
In the second quarter of the JV game, two free throws were scored by Marshall’s Macy Roberts, Harper Richardson, and McKenzie Davis. Karsyn Johnson scored the Lions’ lone field goal, and at the break, Mount Carmel held a 22-10 lead.
With no scoring by the home side for the first 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter, Marshall’s Karsyn Johnson broke the seal on the basket when she sank two free throws to get Marshall within 12 with the score 24-12. After a nice stop on defense, McKenzie Davis raced up the right side when she threaded a pass ahead to Aubree Shaffer, who sprinted past the Mount Carmel defenders. Shaffer caught the pass and went up and scored to trim the deficit to 10 points with the score 24-14. Mount Carmel went ahead by 13 before Karsyn Johnson drilled a three-pointer from the right wing to get the Mount Carmel lead back to 10 with the score 27-17. Nya Engledow hit a free throw to counter a Mount Carmel free throw that made the score 28-18, then in the final minute of the quarter, Karsyn Johnson fed the ball to McKenzie Davis streaking down the right side of the lane, and in one motion, Davis caught the bounce pass and went up and scored to make the score 28-20 at the end of three.
A steal and score by Karsyn Johnson, a nice jumper good from the left wing by Macy Roberts, and a bucket scored by Jayden Jones from the left baseline were all the scoring for Marshall in the fourth quarter. At the buzzer, Mount Carmel came away with a 36-26 win over Marshall.
Karsyn Johnson led the junior varsity team with 9 points to go along with 5 rebounds. McKenzie Davis, Harper Richardson, and Macy Roberts each finished with 4 points. Aubree Shaffer and Jayden Jones each had 2 points, while Nya Engledow finished with one point and 5 rebounds.
In the varsity game, Marshall’s Lynn Welborn won the opening tip over Mount Carmel’s center who was over 6 inches taller than Welborn. On Marshall’s first possession, the Lions went inside to Welborn, who went in amongst the trees and scored to give the Lions their only lead of the game at 2-0. Welborn, Marlee Heighton, and Kyla Gustafson would each score a bucket, but the Lions dug a deep hole in the first quarter, falling behind by double digits before the quarter ended with the Lions trailing 17-8.
In the second quarter, the Big Red kept going to Lynn Welborn inside. She scored 9 points in the quarter, while Marlee Heighton sank a three-pointer, and Harper Richardson and Addy Ross each sank a free throw. At the half, Marshall trailed Mount Carmel 36-22 as the Lady Aces were scoring at will both inside and outside.
In the third quarter, the Lions outscored Mount Carmel 19-16, but the visitors maintained a comfortable lead even though Marshall made two separate runs. Lynn Welborn scored 11 points in the stanza, while Marlee Heighton had 7 and Ella Mattas had one. In the final quarter, Marshall scored only five points (a two point bucket by Heighton and a three-pointer by Welborn), and Mount Carmel came away with a 68-46 win over the Lions.
Lynn Welborn (27 points and 8 rebounds) and Marlee Heighton (14 points) combined for 41 of Marshall’s 46 points. Kyla Gustafson had two points, while Ella Mattas and Addy Ross each had one.
Marshall (2-2) returns to action this Monday night when the Lions travel to Paris for a conference doubleheader inside Room 102 at Paris High School. The junior varsity game tips off at 6:00 PM, with the varsity contest to follow.
Jayden "Shooter" Jones goes up for 2 in the JV Game
Macy Roberts goes the basket in the JV Game
McKenzie Davis dribbles off of a Harper Richardson screen