After treating the Cumberland Thanksgiving Tournament as preseason games, the Marshall Lions boys basketball team opened up play in the Little Illini Conference by hosting Mount Carmel inside McNary Gymnasium on the campus of Marshall High School on Friday, December 4th as part of a triple-header. This game would match two teams that opened the season against tough competition, Marshall in the yet to be finished Cumberland Tournament and Mount Carmel playing in the Capital Classic in Lawrenceville. The Golden Aces finished sixth in the tournament while placing junior point guard Shain Meador on the all-tourney team.
After the two schools split the Freshman/Sophomore and Junior Varsity games, with Marshall winning the Freshman/Sophomore game and Mount Carmel winning the JV game, the varsity squads took to the floor in front of a packed gym that included the Marshall High School pep band, cheerleaders, Marshallettes, and a large Marshall student section decked out on Camo Night. Prior to tip-off, 14 Marshall High School seniors were recognized as Illinois State Scholars and senior point guard Payton McGuire was recognized for scoring the 1,000th point of his career at the Cumberland tournament last week.
The biggest question for the Lions entering conference play was whether the squad could quickly find team chemistry and production to augment their top scorers in Payton McGuire and Garrett Pugh. In the first game of the season against Dieterich, McGuire and Pugh combined for all but 8 of the Lions points. In their second game against Vandalia, McGuire and Pugh combined to score 32 of the team’s 44 points, a better output for the team. Although it is still early in the campaign, conference games mean more because you don’t want to continue to search for the set rotation under the magnification of conference games. Since there are only seven games on the conference schedule, each one is crucial if the Lions are to defend their 2024-2025 championship.
In this game against Mount Carmel, the Lions dominated play from tipoff to the final buzzer as the Lions defeated the Golden Aces by the score of 54-41. Payton McGuire scored 19 points, had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Garrett Pugh also finished with 19 points to go along with a team-high 7 rebounds. Tommy Sheehy, in his first varsity game at home, ended up with 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a blocked shot. Tucker Osburn, who hit a big three point shot down the stretch, also had 5 points, but his biggest contribution in the game was on the defensive end as he hounded the Mount Carmel ball handlers all night long. Osborn also had 4 assists and 2 steals. Bryce Griguhn (5 offensive rebounds) and Zach Jones each finished with 3 points to round out the Lions scoring. Liam Keim did not score in the game, but his presence was felt on the defensive end with his tenacity as well as on the offensive end setting screens and boxing out.
In the first quarter, Marshall spotted the Golden Aces two points before the Lions scored 12 unanswered points. Garrett Pugh tied the game at 2 apiece on a nice strong move at the rim, then Marshall went ahead 4-2 after Payton McGuire sank two free throws. On the next Mount Carmel possession, Marshall got a stop, and Payton McGuire dribbled the ball up the floor. Seeing the Mount Carmel defense backing below the three-point line, McGuire rose up and swished a deep three-pointer from NBA range to make the score 7-2. After another stop by the Lions defense, McGuire splashed another three-pointer, this time from up top on the left side for Marshall to go up 10-2. Mount Carmel immediately called time out as the Marshall fans and students thundered.
Coming out of the time out, Marshall’s Tucker Osborn forced a five-second call, and the Lions took over possession of the ball. Mount Carmel then decided to double-team Payton McGuire, so the ball went back down inside to Garrett Pugh, and the Golden Aces had no answer as Pugh muscled his way to the goal and scored to make it 12-2 with 2:41 to go in the opening quarter. After Mount Carmel scored on a traditional three-point play to make it 12-5, Marshall used crisp passing as Payton McGuire brought the ball down the floor when he threaded a pass to Tucker Osborn at the top of the key. Osborn zipped a pass to Garrett Pugh on the right block, and in one motion, Pugh caught the ball, turned, and scored to give the Lions a 14-5 lead with a little over a minute left on the clock. On the next sequence, Tucker Osborn drew an offensive foul on Mount Carmel, so the Lions got the ball back. Payton McGuire made the Golden Aces pay when he dropped in a floater down the right side of the lane to give Marshall an 11-point lead with the score 16-5. Mount Carmel scored in the final half-minute, and the first quarter ended with Marshall leading by the score of 16-7.
The 7 points given up by the Lions was by far their best defensive effort of the young season – until the next quarter when Mount Carmel was held to just 3 points as Marshall took a 28-10 halftime lead to the locker room. Garrett Pugh opened up the scoring in the quarter when he scored from the right block. After a couple empty possessions, Mount Carmel hit a three-pointer to make it 18-10, then Marshall went back to Garrett Pugh again down low, and he responded by scoring for Marshall to double up Mount Carmel 20-10. The Lions then got another stop before Tucker Osborn found Zach Jones at the rim for another bucket to increase Marshall’s lead to 12 with the score 22-10.
The Marshall defense dialed it up further as the Lions got stop after stop in Quarter #2. With the Lions holding possession, Tommy Sheehy found himself at the top of the key behind the three-point line, and he confidently drained a 20-footer to give the Lions a 25-10 lead with 4 minutes to go until halftime. After another defensive stop, Marshall came back up the floor and made some amazing saves of the ball headed out of bounds and into the backcourt. On this sequence as the ball squirted away after Tucker Osburn tapped an offensive rebound. Payton McGuire sprinted towards the home crowd in the bleachers, and he leaped out of bounds on the left side as he flipped the ball back into play towards half-court. Tommy Sheehy, who was on the right wing, flew towards the center line and flipped the ball back behind his back so there wouldn't be an over-and-back call. Tucker Osburn caught the ball, then he turned directly to the left side of the floor where he zipped a wrap-around bounce pass to McGuire positioned deep along the left wing. McGuire caught the pass and immediately launched a contested three-pointer that hit nothing but the bottom of the net as the gymnasium erupted. The Marshall student section’s screaming threatened to blow the roof off the gym as McGuire’s dagger sent the Lions to halftime leading 28-10.
In the third quarter, Mount Carmel continued to double-team Payton McGuire, but the Lions got balanced scoring in the stanza with five players (McGuire, Garrett Pugh, Tommy Sheehy, Zach Jones, and Bryce Griguhn all scoring for the Lions to take a 39-21 lead into the final quarter of play. Garrett Pugh opened up the scoring for Marshall in the third with his first three-point basket of the season from the left wing. Marshall led by as many as 21 in the quarter before Mount Carmel got their deficit back down to 18 at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth, Mount Carmel reduced the Lions lead down to 11, but the Golden Aces could not get any closer. With Marshall holding an 11-point lead with a couple of minutes to go, Tucker Osborn put any idea of a Mount Carmel comeback to bed when he swished a three-pointer from the left baseline. Garrett Pugh then scored down low, and the Lions went to the final minute of play up by 16 with the score 50-34. A couple buckets by Payton McGuire down the stretch closed out the game with Marshall winning by the score of 54-41 over Mount Carmel. The Lions open the conference schedule 1-0.
Marshall Junior Varsity game scorers: Tommy Sheehy – 9, Caden O’Rourke – 7, Reed Ramey – 5, Ethan Sumner – 4, Cage Stuckey – 3, Preston Welsh – 2, Zach Jones – 1, Lennon Jennings – 1.
Marshall Freshman/Sophomore game scorers: Brady Landrus – 9, Ethan Sumner – 7, Caden O’Rourke – 6, Rocco Giannavola – 4, Charlie Denman – 3, Preston Welsh – 2, Lennon Jennings – 2, Luke Smitley – 2, Luke Brodie – 1.
Marshall (1-2) returns to action this week with three away games on the schedule: Tuesday night in Tolono against #1 ranked Unity High School, a conference doubleheader Friday night at Paris, and then the Lions close out the week on Saturday afternoon at South Vermillion (IN) High School against Crawfordsville (IN) as part of the annual Border Battle.
The MHS Cheerleaders hold up Alexandria Wernz as she plays in the drum line
The MHS Student Section came out on Camo Night to support the Lions
Payton McGuire goes up for 2 of his 19 points
Article and Photos by T Ray Henry