Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
The Marshall High School boys varsity basketball team welcomed Richland County High School’s Olney Tigers to McNary Gymnasium on Friday, January 9th for a tripleheader (Freshman/Sophomore game followed by a junior varsity and varsity contest) in front of a large throng inside the venerable gym. The best pep band in Lincoln Land, the Marshall High School pep band, as well as the Marshallettes dance team, entertained the crowd on hand to see the Lions and Tigers battle it out on the court. Both teams came in needing a win to stay in the hunt at the top of the Little Illini conference standings. Olney came into the game with a 2-0 conference record, while the Lions came in with a conference record of 2-1. With Marshall already experiencing a conference loss to Lawrenceville before Christmas, another loss would for all intents and purposes eliminate the Lions from defending their conference championship last year.
After playing as good as they’ve played all season in the first half, the Lions led by 10 (24-14) at the half. In the second half, however, turnovers began piling up as Olney rained down three-pointers to get back into the game. At one point in the third quarter, Olney hit four straight shots from beyond the arc to turn the tables on Marshall. With the Lions leading by one with the score 35-34 at the end of three, it came down to the final 8 minutes of play to determine the outcome. In the third quarter alone, Olney hit 6 three-pointers to just one 2-point field goal.
Marshall started the fourth quarter with possession of the ball. Payton McGuire, who had been continually fouled all night but never got a call, drove into the front court and passed the ball to Liam Keim on the right wing. Keim waited for Zach Jones to sprint down the right side of the lane when Keim zipped in a pass which Jones caught, then he went up and scored in one motion. Marshall now was ahead by three with the score 37-34. Unfortunately for the Lions, the turnover bug bit time and time again as Olney scored to take the lead before the midway point of the quarter. In the ballgame, Marshall turned the ball over a total of 14 times.
Once Olney went in front by four points with 3 ½ minutes to go in the game, the Tigers played stall ball on offense, spreading out in a four corners configuration. When the Lions dialed up the defensive pressure over a minute later, the Tigers got bailed out by questionable foul calls. Down the stretch, the Tigers hit just enough of their free throws, and the Lions continued to play catch up but couldn’t get over the hump. When the final buzzer sounded, Olney came away with a 50-46 win over Marshall to stay undefeated in conference play, while Marshall fell to 2-2 in the conference and out of the race for the LIC championship.
Garrett Pugh led the Lions with 19 points, while Payton McGuire finished with 15. The rest of the team combined for a total of 12 points (Tommy Sheehy 6, Zach Jones 4, and Liam Keim 2).
In the JV game won by Olney 45-37, the young Lions were bitten by a bigger turnover bug, coughing up the ball 26 times as they struggled to get familiar with the 35-second clock. Marshall’s JV squad was led in scoring by Tommy Sheehy with 12 points. Reed Ramey and Ethan Sumner finished with 7 points apiece, and Cage Stuckey had 4. Brady Landrus ended the night with 3 points, and to round out the scoring in the JV game, Larry Welsh and Zach Jones each had two points.
For Marshall’s freshman/sophomore team, Charlie Denman had 8 points and Lennon Jennings had 7 to pace the Lions in their game against Olney. Caden O’Rourke scored 3 points, Mason Ellington 2, and Bryce Parker and Luke Smitley each finished with one.
Marshall plays its next game Tuesday, January 13th when the Lions host Crawfordsville (IN) High School. The junior varsity game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 PM Illinois time in order to split the time change for the visitors. The varsity game will follow the junior varsity contest.