Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
The Marshall High School girls basketball team welcomed the Olney Lady Tigers from Richland County High School to McNary Gymnasium on Thursday, January 15th. The Lions came in with a record of 8-6, while the Lady Tigers came in with a record of 10-7. Playing on the same floor as they will this Saturday during the opening round of the Little Illini Conference Tournament, this battle was going to be a good test to see where both teams stood heading into tournament play (even though Marshall has another game at Casey-Westfield the night before the tournament). Olney was awarded the Number 3 seed in the LIC Tournament, while Marshall is seeded seventh. Olney is also ranked higher in Class 2A than the Sullivan team Marshall defeated one week ago today, but the Lions are currently playing their best basketball of the season since the semester break.
Prior to the game, Marshall senior Lynn Welborn was presented with the game ball from the December 26th Dieterich Holiday Tournament game against OPH where Welborn scored her 1,000th career point, joining her mom and aunt in the 1,000-point club at Marshall High School. Fans in attendance tonight, to include the largest Marshall High School student section of the season thus far, recognized Lynn as Marshall girls basketball head coach Michael Henry presented her with the ball at center court.
Olney won the opening tip, but the Lady Tigers quickly turned the ball over and Marshall took possession. The Lions worked the ball up the floor and over to Marlee Heighton, who sank an 8-footer from the right baseline to give Marshall a 2-0 lead. The Lady Tigers scored 7 straight points before Marshall’s Lynn Welborn was fouled at the 5:30 mark. Welborn hit both free throws to make it 7-4, then after the Lions got a stop on defense, Addy Ross dribbled up the court when she passed ahead to Marlee Heighton. Heighton dribbled to her right, then she dropped a floater through the net to make the score 7-6 with 5:04 to go in the opening quarter.
The Lions then went a little cold from the field as Olney scored 11 straight points to lead by 12 with the score 18 to 6. Harper Richardson was fouled in the act of shooting with just under 2 minutes to go on the clock, and she sank both free throws to get the Lions within 10 by making the score 18-8. A free throw by Addy Ross at the 1:08 mark got the Lions’ deficit down to 9, then after a steal by Marshall on defense on the next sequence, Lynn Welborn caught a pass and went in for a layup to make it 18-11. The Lions once again dialed up the defensive pressure and got the ball back. With 18.3 seconds left on the clock, Lynn Welborn was fouled and she went to the free throw line. Welborn calmly hit both free throws, and now Marshall’s deficit was five points with the score 18-13. On Olney’s next possession, Marshall’s Addy Ross made a great play to tie up the ball, and Marshall regained possession. The Lions came up the floor, and with 5.4 seconds left, Lynn Welborn went up and scored as she was fouled. Welborn then swished the free throw for the traditional three-point play to make the score 18-16. After a half-court shot by Olney was no good, the first quarter ended with Marshall trailing 18-16.
Five straight points by Olney to begin the second quarter put the score at 23-16 before Marshall’s Lynn Welborn scored on the right-side block to cut the Lady Tigers lead back down to five with the score 23-18. The visitors scored again to push their lead back up to seven before the Lions made a charge on back-to-back buckets by Lynn Welborn and a drive to the goal for a score by Harper Richardson to make it a one-point game at 25-24 with 2:12 to go before the half. On the latter basket by Welborn and on the drive and score by Richardson, McKenzie Davis created space with a couple of great screens to free up the scorers. The Lions then got another stop on defense, and the Big Red took a 26-25 lead when the team worked the ball around the perimeter and sent the rock down low to Lynn Welborn, who scored at the rim on the right side as the Marshall fans erupted in cheers. The Lions had come all the way back from being behind by double digits. The elation was short lived, however, as Olney outscored the Lions 7-1 over the final 2 ½ minutes of the quarter to lead by five points at the halftime break with the score 32-27.
To begin the second half, Marshall started with possession of the ball, and Marlee Heighton scored the first bucket of the 3rd quarter when she splashed a three-pointer from the right wing to make the score 32-30. The Lady Tigers responded by scoring eight straight points to take a 40-30 lead as the Lions were facing their third double-digit deficit of the ballgame. The Lions cut the deficit to six quickly on the heels of back-to-back buckets in the lane by Marlee Heighton and Addy Ross. After Olney hit a three-pointer to go back up by 9, Marshall’s Harper Richardson drove in and scored from the right block as she was fouled. After she sank the free throw, Marshall was now within six again with the score 43-37.
On Olney’s next possession, the Lady Tigers threw the ball away, and Marshall pounced on the opportunity by scoring five quick points on a three-pointer by Marlee Heighton, then after Marshall stole the ball, Lynn Welborn took a pass in transition and scored at the rim to get the Lions within one point with the score 43-42 with 2:37 to go on the clock in the third quarter. One more big stop by the Marshall defense turned into a basket by Lynn Welborn as she curled in the lane and scored, and with 2:04 to go, Marshall came all the way back again to lead 44-43. Down the stretch, though, Olney outscore the Lions 7-2 to take a 50-45 lead into the final quarter of play.
On the first possession of the fourth quarter, Marshall worked the ball around the perimeter until Ella Mattas saw an opening on the left baseline. Mattas drove the ball along the baseline, and she went up on the reverse side of the basket and layed it in to make the score 50-47. After an Olney bucket made it 52-47, Marshall’s Marlee Heighton drilled a three-pointer from up top on the left side to cut Olney’s lead to two with the score 52-50 with 6:30 to go in the game. The Lions held strong on defense and took over on offense. Lynn Welborn grabbed an offensive rebound and went back up and scored to tie the game at 52, then after another big stop on defense, the Lions came back up the floor. Harper Richardson dribbled around the perimeter over to the left side, then she reversed course and dribbled back up top when she whipped a pass down low to Lynn Welborn in the lane on the right side. Welborn went up amongst the trees and scored to give Marshall a 54-52, then Welborn scored again to give the Lions a 56-52 lead with 4:08 to go on the clock as the Marshall cheering section roared.
The tension was getting thick as neither team scored again until the clock ticked under a minute and a half to go. At the 1:15 mark, Olney hit one of two free throws to cut the Marshall lead to three with the score 56-53. With 1:06 left, Lynn Welborn was fouled. She stepped up to the line and hit both crucial free throws to get the Lions’ lead up to five points at 58-53. Another one of two free throw trips for Olney made the score 58-54 in favor of Marshall with 49.5 seconds to go. Free throws by Lynn Welborn, Marlee Heighton, and Harper Richardson down the stretch offset four free throws by Olney, and with 5.5 seconds remaining in the game, Olney had to go the length of the court and make a three to send the game to overtime. Terrific defense by Ella Mattas in the backcourt ticked down the seconds, and a last gasp desperation halfcourt shot was off the mark. As the buzzer sounded, Marshall jubilantly celebrated a huge comeback win over Olney by the score of 61-58. With the win, Marshall improves its record to 9-6 as the Lions took home their first conference win of the season.
Lynn Welborn was the leading scorer for Marshall, finishing the game with 28 points. She was 8 of 9 from the free throw line. Joining Welborn in scoring double figures were Marlee Heighton with 16 and Harper Richardson with 10. Ella Mattas finished the game with 4 points, while Addy Ross had 3 points.
In the junior varsity game, Marshall had trouble scoring and protecting the ball in the loss to Olney. Leading the young Lions in scoring was McKenzie Davis, who had 4 points. Nya Engledow and Macy Roberts each had 3 points, and Aria Ogle and Kyla Gustafson each finished with 2 points.
Rebounds - Welborn 13, Mattas 9, A. Ross 5, Richardson 3, Davis 3, Heighton 2
Assists - A. Ross 4, Heighton 4, Welborn 2, Mattas 2, Davis 2, Richardson 1
Steals - A. Ross 2, Welborn 1, Mattas 1, Richardson 1
Blocks - Welborn 1, Mattas 1, Richardson 1, Davis 1
The girls varsity team will have a quick turnaround as they are scheduled to play Casey-Westfield High School as part of a Clark County tripleheader at Casey-Westfield High School on Friday, January 16th. The boys junior varsity game is scheduled to tipoff at 5:00 PM, with the girls varsity game to follow. The boys varsity contest will conclude the event.
On Saturday, January 17th, Marshall’s girls varsity team is scheduled to play Mount Carmel in the first round of the LIC Tournament hosted by Marshall High School. Tipoff for the game against Mount Carmel is scheduled for 4:00 PM inside McNary Gymnasium. Depending on the results of Saturday’s game, Marshall will play either on Monday (1/19) at 7:30 PM in the consolation semifinal round or on Tuesday (1/20) at 7:30 PM in the championship semifinal round. Come on out and support this exciting team.
Marlee Heighton splashes home a three-pointer on her way to scoring 16 points against Olney in Marshall's big win
Ella Mattas (24) connects on a drive and reverse bucket against Olney during Marshall's win
Harper Richardson scores 2 of her 10 points in the comeback win over Olney
This bucket by Lynn Welborn gave Marshall a 44-43 lead in the third quarter
Lynn Welborn and Girls Basketball Head Coach Michael Henry