Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On Thursday, December 18th, the Marshall High School girls basketball team hosted the South Vermillion (IN) High School Wildcats in a non-conference doubleheader inside McNary Gymnasium. The Lions came in with a record of 2-4, while the Wildcats were still in search of their first win of the season after beginning the campaign 0-6.
In the first of two abbreviated games, the Marshall junior varsity squad began the doubleheader by defeating South Vermillion’s JV team by the score of 36-6 as Lilly Ross led a very balanced Lions attack with 8 points. Four Lions scored 6 points each: McKenzie Davis, Aubree Shaffer, Kyla Gustafson, and Aria Ogle. Karsyn Johnson and Macy Roberts finished with 2 points apiece.
The junior varsity contest was played under modified rules: two ten-minute halves with a running clock except for timeouts and the halftime break. In the opening half, the Lions got early baskets from McKenzie Davis and Kyla Gustafson before South Vermillion got a bucket from Julie Collins-Riggle which made the score 4-2 in favor of Marshall. On Marshall’s next offensive possession, the Lions quickly brought the ball up the floor. McKenzie Davis passed the ball over to Aubree Shaffer on the right side of the floor. Shaffer then passed the ball down inside to Kyla Gustafson, who turned and scored to start an 8-0 run which made the score 14-2. During the Lions run, Lilly Ross hit consecutive three-point shots from the left wing. Julie Collins-Riggle sank two free throws for South Vermillion to make the score 14-4 before Marshall closed out the first half on buckets by McKenzie Davis, Kyla Gustafson, and Lilly Ross which made the score 20-4 Marshall at the break.
In the second half of the JV game, Marshall scored the first 16 points of the half to take a 36-4 lead into the final half-minute of the game. Karsyn Johnson began the scoring for Marshall before Aubree Shaffer scored three consecutive buckets for the Lions to take a 28-4 lead. Aria Ogle then scored three straight buckets before Macy Roberts scored with about a minute to go to give the Lions a 36-4 lead. South Vermillion’s Cassie VanLannen scored from the left side just before the final buzzer to make the final score 36-6.
In the abbreviated varsity contest, Marshall’s defense overwhelmed South Vermillion’s ballhandlers, turning steals into fast breaks and easy baskets for the Big Red the entire game. From the onset when Marshall’s Lynn Welborn stole the ball on defense and went ¾ court for a layup to give the Lions a 2-0 lead, the Lions defense kept getting turnovers and easy fast-break scores throughout. The Lions led 28-5 after one quarter, 56-10 at the half, and 77-13 when the game suddenly came to an end with 3:11 to go in the third quarter.
Marshall varsity scoring: Lynn Welborn – 32, Marlee Heighton – 19, Harper Richardson – 7, Karsyn Johnson – 7, Ella Mattas – 5, Lilly Ross – 5, Caitlyn Hilliard – 2.
Marshall (3-4) plays their next game in the Dieterich Holiday Tournament beginning the day after Christmas at Dieterich High School. On Friday, December 26th, Marshall is scheduled to play Oblong-Palestine-Hutsonville at 4:00 PM. On Saturday, December 27th, Marshall is scheduled to play two games: the first against Arcola at 11:30 AM, then they are scheduled to play Brownstown/St. Elmo at 4:00 PM. On Monday, December 29th, Marshall will play a yet-to-be-determined opponent at a time to be determined (based on the previous days’ results) for final placing.
Lilly Ross goes up for the floater
Aria Ogle goes up for the score
Macy Roberts leads the fast break