Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On Thursday, December 11th, the Marshall High School girls basketball team traveled to Lawrenceville High School to take on the Lady Indians in a Little Illini Conference varsity-only game. Both teams were looking for their first win in the conference. This game would be a good test for the Lions, with Lawrenceville being led this season by senior Addeline Sanders, an all-conference returnee and state honors candidate who is already committed to play basketball at Lincoln Land College next year. The Lady Indians also have four freshmen playing on their varsity squad after completing two successful seasons at Parkview Junior High.
Marshall won the opening tip, and the Lions got on the board first when Lynn Welborn took a nice pass from Harper Richardson and scored on a back door play. Welborn then stole the ball on defense and went coast to coast to score left-handed to give the Lions a 4-0 lead. Lawrenceville’s Sanders hit a three-pointer to trim Marshall’s lead to one with the score 4-3 before Addy Ross grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back up and in for a 6-3 Lions lead with 6 minutes to go in the opening quarter. The two squads then battled back and forth in a very entertaining first quarter which ended in a 16-16 tie. Nya Engledow got hot from beyond the arc with two three-pointers for the Lions, one from the left and one from up top.
In the second quarter, Lawrenceville dominated the boards as Marshall struggled in all areas of the court. The Lions were held to five points in the quarter, a free throw by Marlee Heighton, a bucket by Lynn Welborn, and a nice rebound and putback by McKenzie Davis. The Lady Indians, meanwhile, scored 12 in the stanza to take a 28-21 lead into the break.
In the third, Marshall fell further behind as the team looked out of sorts while Lawrenceville built a double-digit lead. Harper Richardson and Marlee Heighton led the team in the quarter with six points each, while Ella Mattas scored a bucket inside. At the end of three, Lawrenceville led comfortably by 12 points with the score 47-35. In the final quarter, a three-pointer scored by Marlee Heighton was all the scoring Marshall could muster as the Lions fell by the score of 53-38.
Lynn Welborn led Marshall with 15 points. Harper Richardson and Nya Engledow each scored 6 points. Marlee Heighton scored 5, while Addy Ross, Ella Mattas, and McKenzie Davis each finished with 2. Lawrenceville, on the other hand, had three players finish in double figures in scoring, senior Addeline Sanders (14), freshman Brina Opat, and freshman Reagan Ivers.
Other Lions Statistic Highlights…
Rebounds - Welborn 11, Mattas 7, A. Ross 5
Assists - Richardson 4, Heighton 3
Marshall (2-4) plays its next game on Monday night when the host Olney at McNary Gym with JV starting at 6:00 p.m.
Addy Ross goes up for a score inside
Lynn Welborn led the Lions with 15 points