Article and photos by T Ray Henry
Playing only their fifth game of the season as they hosted the Oblong-Palestine-Hutsonville Wildcats (4-5), Marshall High School senior guard Payton McGuire lit up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree as he went for a career-high 40 points, and the Lions coasted to a 73-57 win over OPH inside McNary Gymnasium on Tuesday, December 16th.
Marshall opened the scoring on the night when the Lions worked the ball down low on the block to Garrett Pugh, and he created space and scored inside to give the Big Red a 2-0 lead. Andrew Amburgy then hit a three-pointer for the Wildcats to take a 3-2 lead before Marshall’s Payton McGuire hit the first of his seven three-pointers on the night to give Marshall a 5-3 lead. On OPH’s next possession, Marshall’s Tucker Osborn stole the ball, and the Lions quickly transitioned back to offense. Payton McGuire brought ball up the floor, passed it to Liam Keim on the right elbow, who passed it to Garrett Pugh down low on the left block, and Pugh turned and scored to make it 7-3. After another stop on defense, the Lions came back up the floor when Payton McGuire was fouled as he drove to the goal. McGuire sank both free throws, and with 5:50 to go in the opening quarter, Marshall led 9-3.
OPH got back on track with a bucket from Andrew Amburgy, and OPH’s leading scorer Riley Blank scored outside and sank two free throws to give the Wildcats an 11-9 lead with 3 minutes to go. Marshall came back to tie it up at 11 when Liam Keim passed the ball inbounds to Tommy Sheehy at the right elbow, and Sheehy drained the shot. After OPH came up empty on their next possession, Marshall’s Garrett Pugh swished a three-pointer from behind the arc on the right wing to give the Lions a 14-11 lead. OPH’s Riley Blank then scored a four-point play to give the Wildcats a 15-14 advantage with just over a minute left on the clock. Marshall’s Tommy Sheehy drilled a three-pointer on Marshall’s next possession to make the score 17-15 in favor of Marshall, but the Wildcats scored before the end of the quarter when Andrew Amburgy hit a three-pointer for OPH to take an 18-17 lead after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter of play, Marshall’s defense clamped down on OPH’s Blank and Amburgy, holding them to just 5 points in the quarter. As a team, OPH scored 9 total points in the quarter as the Lions concentrated on getting Payton McGuire open looks. McGuire responded to the challenge by sinking three three-pointers, including two on back-to-back possessions, as Marshall went on a 13-0 run to close out the quarter, turning a 27-26 OPH lead with 3:33 to go before halftime to a 39-27 Marshall lead at the half. In the second quarter alone, Payton McGuire scored 14, while Tucker Osborn had two free throws, Tommy Sheey scored a bucket, and Garrett Pugh scored two buckets in the lane as OPH could not handle him inside.
OPH scored the first five points of the second half to trim Marshall’s lead to 7 with the score 39-32 with 4:43 to go in the third quarter. With the Lions trying to swing momentum back to the home side, Payton McGuire hit a three-pointer from the left wing to get the Lions’ lead back to 10 with the score 42-32. After Marshall stopped the Wildcats on their next possession, the Lions came back up the floor, and Payton McGuire drilled another three-pointer from the exact same spot to give the Lions a 13-point lead to make the score 45-32.
OPH’s Riley Blank, who led the Wildcats with 33 points on the night, tried to put the Wildcats on his back and get them back into it. He hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to trim the Marshall lead back down to 10, but the Lions responded when Tucker Osborn found Garrett Pugh in the lane for a score to push the Lions’ lead back up to 12 with the score 47-35 with 3:37 to go in the third. On the ensuing play, Garrett Pugh intercepted a Wildcat pass and went coast to coast to score, giving Marshall a 49-35 lead.
After Ryerson Beabout scored a traditional three-point play for OPH to make it 49-38, Marshall’s Payton McGuire drained another three-pointer for the Lions to take a 52-38 lead with just over two minutes left in the quarter. OPH trimmed Marshall’s lead to 11 twice down the stretch, but Payton McGuire scored on a sweet reverse lay in to keep the Wildcats at bay, and the teams went to the fourth quarter with Marshall leading 54-43.
The Lions got a stop on OPH’s first possession of the final quarter, and Payton McGuire scored at the rim to push the Lions’ lead to 13. Another stop had the Big Red running in transition. Tucker Osborn found Bryce Griguhn for a score, and later Liam Keim scored at the left block. With Garrett Pugh scoring another two baskets inside, OPH resorted to fouling Payton McGuire down the stretch. McGuire responded by hitting 8 free throws in the stanza, and Marshall was never threatened as they defeated OPH by the score of 73-57.
Payton McGuire, whose previous career-best was 29 points, led all scorers with 40 points. Garrett Pugh finished with 20 points while dominating on the glass at both ends of the floor. Tommy Sheehy finished the game with 7 points, while Tucker Osborn, Liam Keim, and Bryce Griguhn each had 2 points.
For OPH, Riley Blank led the Wildcats with 33 points, while Andrew Amburgy finished with 12. Ryerson Beabout ended up with 5 points, Jasper Sweitzer with 3, and Wyatt Snider and Caden Goodwin each had 2.
In the junior varsity game which preceded the varsity contest, Marshall’s Reed Ramey led a balanced Lions scoring attack in a 37-27 win over OPH. Ramey led the Lions with 11 points. Ethan Sumner finished with 8 points, while Zach Jones ended up with 7 points. Caden O’Rourke had 6 points, Cage Stuckey and Tommy Sheehy had 2, and Luke Brodie finished with 1.
For OPH’s JV squad, the Wildcats were led in scoring by Wyatt Snider, who had 14 points. Brock Noblitt finished with 7 points, while Willis Strohm, Ray Woodward, and Isaac Hackett each had 2.
Marshall (2-3) returns to action this Friday night when the Lions travel to Lawrenceville for a conference doubleheader. Tipoff for the JV game is scheduled for 6:00 PM, with the varsity contest to follow.
Garrett Pugh skies for the rebound
Tommy Sheehy scored a career high 7 points
The Marshallettes and Cheerleaders perform during the school song
The cheerleader and student section encouraged the Lions throughout the contest