Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
Girls Varsity Game
The girls varsity game began with the home team jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead before Marshall worked the ball inside to Lynn Welborn, who went up and scored in the lane to get the Lions on the board. The sides traded baskets with Ella Mattas scoring for Marshall to make it 6-4 in favor of Casey-Westfield with 5 ½ minutes to go in the opening stanzas. Another trade of buckets, this time with Lynn Welborn accounting for the points for Marshall, made the score 8-6 with 4:08 showing on the clock. With no scoring for over four minutes, the game could not get into any flow. Finally, with 33 seconds left in the quarter, Marshall’s Lynn Welborn scored from the right block to tie the game at 8. Both teams had a chance down the stretch, but the shots would not fall. After one quarter of play, the game was tied at 8 apiece.
Marshall scored on their first possession of the second quarter when Marlee Heighton knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Lions their first lead of the contest at 11-8 with 30 seconds gone on the clock. On Casey-Westfield’s next possession, the ball was stolen by the Lions’ Marlee Heighton, and the Big Red immediately transitioned to offense. Lynn Welborn picked up some loose change on the floor inside the lane and went up and scored to make it 13-8 with just over seven minutes remaining until halftime. One of two free throws by Lucy Moore for Casey-Westfield trimmed Marshall’s lead to four points at 13-9.
Marshall brought the ball up the floor next, and Ella Mattas found Lynn Welborn open on the left block. Welborn caught the pass and scored easily to make it 15-9. Another one-for-two free throw trip for Casey-Westfield made the score 15-10 in favor of Marshall at the 5:25 mark.
Over the next minute of play, Marshall got another bucket inside from Lynn Welborn, then after another turnover by the Lady Warriors, Marshall’s Nya Engledow swished a three-point jumper from the right wing to give the Lions a 10-point lead at 20-10. Down the stretch, three points scored by Casey-Westfield made it Marshall 20, Casey-Westfield 13 at the halftime break.
With no scoring for over a minute to begin the second half, Marshall got the first points of the third quarter when Lynn Welborn stepped back and hit a shot from the left block to make the score 22-13. A three-pointer by Marlee Heighton and a layup by Welborn offset a bucket inside by the Lady Warriors in making the score 25-15 with Marshall still out in front. The teams then traded baskets in making the score 27-17 before Marshall’s Addy Ross sank a free throw to increase the Lions lead to 11 (28-17) with 5:14 to go in the third. On the subsequent possession for Casey-Westfield, Marshall’s Marlee Heighton stole a pass and turned up the floor. She passed the ball ahead to Harper Richardson, and Richardson outraced the Casey-Westfield team to the goal as she scored to give Marshall a 30-17 advantage. Another steal on Casey-Westfield’s next possession turned into a Marlee Heighton stop and pop score from 12 feet inside the lane to make it 32-17 with 4:33 to go on the clock.
Marshall dialed up the defensive pressure even higher, with Addy Ross tipping the ball out of bounds on consecutive plays. After Casey-Westfield cut the Lions lead to 11 (32-21) with two minutes to go, Marshall’s Lilly Ross drained a three-pointer from the right baseline for the Lions to go back up by 14 with the score 35-21 with 1:35 to go. The Lions then relaxed as the Lady Warriors scored seven straight points to get within seven at the end of three with the score 35-28 Marshall.
The teams traded baskets to begin the final quarter of the girls varsity game as Marshall held onto its seven-point lead with the score 39-32. With Casey-Westfield on offense looking to trim the Lions’ lead to five or four with a three-pointer, the Lady Warriors threw the ball away and Marshall took over possession on the turnover. A minute later, the Lions stole the ball again on defense and headed up the floor. A great individual play by Harper Richardson to score on a three-point play when she drove in from the left wing and scored as she was fouled. After sinking the free throw, Richardson once again gave the Lions a 10-point lead with the score 42-32 with 5:21 to go in the game.
Back on defense, the Lions stole the ball again and flipped the floor once more when McKenzie Davis battled for an offensive rebound, then she put the ball back up and in to make the score 44-32. After another strong set on defense by the Lions, followed by some spirited play, Harper Richardson was fouled in the offensive end. She sank both free throws to give the Lions a 14-point lead with the score 46-32 with just under 3 ½ minutes to play.
A bucket by the home team and free throws by Harper Richardson and Caitlyn Hilliard for the Lions down the stretch proved to be the final points of the game as Marshall came away with a convincing 49-34 win over Casey-Westfield to stretch Marshall’s winning streak to four games.
For the Lions, Lynn Welborn led the team in scoring by dropping 20 points on the Lady Warriors. Harper Richardson finished with 9 points, while Marlee Heighton had 8. Nya Engledow had 3 points, and Ella Mattas and McKenzie Davis both had 2. Rounding out the scoring for the Lions, Addy Ross and Caitlyn Hilliard each sank a free throw.
Boys Varsity Game
In the boys varsity contest, Casey-Westfield jumped out to a 12-2 lead on the Lions, who only got a basket by Liam Keim in the early going as turnovers plagued the Big Red. The only other points in the opening quarter came from Payton McGuire, who sank three free throws after he was fouled beyond the arc on a shot attempt. At the end of one quarter, Marshall trailed 12-5. In the second quarter, the Lions fell behind by as many as 12 points with the score 23-11 with about three minutes to go before the half. Payton McGuire then sank back-to-back threes from deep to trim the deficit to six at the break with the score 23-17. In the first half alone, Marshall committed 10 turnovers and could not keep the home team off the glass which led to second and third chance points.
In the second half, the Lions only committed four turnovers in the entire half as they began the third quarter by ringing off seven straight points to take a 24-23 lead when Tucker Osborn calmly sank two free throws. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Lions fell behind by eight at the end of three with the score 36-28.
The teams played even throughout the final quarter of play with Casey-Westfield outscoring the Lions by two points over the final eight minutes. When the final buzzer sounded, Marshall was on the short end of a 48-38 score.
Payton McGuire led the Lions with 19 points. Garrett Pugh had 6, Tommy Sheehy 5, while Tucker Osborn, Liam Keim, Bryce Griguhn, and Zach Jones each had two.
For the Marshall boys JV team, the young Lions were led by Reed Ramey with 11 points. Brady Landrus finished with 9, Ethan Sumner 7, Tommy Sheehy 6, Cage Stuckey also with 6, and DJ Williams 2.
On Saturday, January 17th, Marshall’s girls varsity team (10-6) is scheduled to play Mount Carmel in the first round of the LIC Tournament, which is hosted this year 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.
Marshall’s boys team (5-9) plays its next game Saturday (January 17th) when the Lions travel to Arcola High School to take on the Purple Riders in a non-conference doubleheader. Tipoff for the JV game is set for 1:00 PM. Next Tuesday, January 20th, Marshall travels to Cumberland High School to take on the Pirates in a non-conference doubleheader which will start at 6:00 PM with the JV contest. The varsity game will follow.
Brady Landrus (10) had a nice shooting night for Marshall during the JV game
Harper Richardson (32) scores from the outside for Marshall on Mega Night
Lynn Welborn (2) goes up and scores 2 of her team-high 20 points against Casey-Westfield on Mega Night
The pep bands from Marshall and Casey-Westfield combined to entertain the big crowd at Clark County's Mega Night
Payton McGuire (13) led the Marshall boys varsity squad with 19 points on Mega Night
Reed Ramey (30) led the Marshall JV squad with 11 points on Mega Night (1)