Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On Saturday, January 24th, the Marshall High School boys basketball team traveled to Robinson High School to take on the Olney Tigers from Richland County High School in the opening round of the Little Illini Conference Tournament. Olney was seeded fourth and the Lions were seeded fifth in the tournament. These two teams played a game 15 days ago inside McNary Gymnasium on the campus of Marshall High School, with the Tigers coming away with a four-point win in that game (50-46). In the earlier loss, Marshall was plagued by turnovers and rebounding, so the Lions were determined to not repeat that performance if they were going to compete with the higher-seeded Tigers.
Marshall was coming in off a win over Martinsville the previous night by 32 points, so the biggest question heading into this game was how the quick turnaround would affect the squad in playing a game less than 16 hours prior. For Olney, the Tigers had not played since last Tuesday when they defeated Casey-Westfield 39-29 in head coach Dakota Brown’s debut after former head coach Andy Thomann stepped down from coaching the Olney program.
It was apparent early in this contest that these Lions were committed to crashing the boards, as evidenced by all five players going to the glass on the defensive end. On the offensive side, Marshall had to find ways to get points based on the way Olney was defending Payton McGuire and Garrett Pugh. Olney was up 3-0 before Marshall scored their first points of the game when Garrett Pugh passed the ball to Liam Keim streaking down the lane, and Keim went up and scored to make it 3-2 in favor of Olney. The Tigers then went on a 6-0 run as the zebras let the game get physical. Marshall’s Bryce Griguhn, who was very active on the boards, grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back up and in to make it 9-4. Payton McGuire got free up top on Marshall’s next trip up the floor and he drained a three to make the score 9-7 Olney.
After the Tigers scored to go up by four, Marshall’s Garrett Pugh scored inside to make it 11-9 with 1:20 to go in the opening quarter. Pugh tacked on a free throw, but Olney went ahead 16-10 before Marshall’s Tommy Sheehy scored at the buzzer to end the first quarter with Marshall trailing 16-12.
Olney went ahead 18-12 early in the second quarter before Marshall’s Liam Keim scored from 8 feet away on the left side to cut the deficit to four with the score 18-14. Olney scored four straight to go up by 8 (22-14) before Marshall’s Payton McGuire sank a three-pointer from the top of the key to get the Lions within 5 (22-17). On the ensuing possession, Bryce Griguhn stole the ball and went to the rim where he was fouled. After he sank one free throw, Marshall was within 4 points (22-18). After Marshall’s defense was strong, and Payton McGuire was fouled twice in the backcourt, the Lions brought the ball up the floor where they found Garrett Pugh inside the lane. Pugh drove to the goal and scored to make it a two-point game (22-20) with 3 minutes to go before halftime.
Good defense by both teams dominated play over the next two minutes of play as Olney scored one basket to go up 24-20. Marshall held the ball for the final shot of the half, and Olney doubled Payton McGuire up top. The Lions worked the ball around to Tucker Osborn, who was on the left wing in front of the Olney bench. Osborn lined the shot up and drained a huge three-pointer right before the buzzer to get Marshall within one point at the half with the score 24-23.
The Lions wasted no time in taking their first lead of the contest on the first possession of the second half. Payton McGuire drove into the front court and past his defender. McGuire drove into the lane and drew the Olney players to him as he dished the ball down to Bryce Griguhn on the right block. Griguhn caught the pass and went up and scored to give Marshall a 25-24 lead. The Tigers responded by going ahead by 3 (28-25) before Marshall came right back and got a Payton McGuire three-pointer from the left side to tie the game at 28 with 3:12 to go in the third. After the Lions held strong on defense and got a stop, they came back up the floor and worked the ball to Garrett Pugh up top on the right side. Pugh wasted no time before he launched a three-point shot that swished through the net to put the Lions ahead 31-28 with 1:45 to go. Olney trimmed the Lions lead to one with the score 31-30, then Marshall worked the clock down to get the final shot of the quarter. As Olney was thinking the ball would go to Payton McGuire or Garrett Pugh, the Lions worked the ball to Zach Jones, who went up right before the buzzer and was fouled as the buzzer sounded. The sophomore stepped up to the free throw line with nobody standing on the sides of the lane, and with no time remaining in the third quarter, Jones calmly sank both free throws to give Marshall a 33-30 lead after three quarters of play.
In a tense first minute of play in the final quarter, the teams traded baskets with Payton McGuire scoring for the Lions on a scoop and score to make it 35-32. With 7:14 showing on the clock, Olney’s head coach was rung up with a technical foul. During this moment, an Olney fan was ejected by the game officials. When the situation was calmed down, Marshall’s Payton McGuire stepped up to the free throw line and sank both free throws to extend Marshall’s lead to five with the score 37-32.
Olney came back and made it a two-point game (37-35 Marshall) with a three pointer, then Garrett Pugh put the Lions up by four (39-35) when he drove from left to right and popped in a jump hook with 6 minutes left in the game. The Lions got a stop on defense, and when they came back on the offensive end, Garrett Pugh was moved to the outside on the top left side to draw Olney’s center out of the middle. The strategy worked for Marshall, as Pugh zipped a pass inside to Zach Jones, who spun inside the lane and scored at the rim to give the Lions a six-point lead (41-35). After another stop by the Lions on defense, Payton McGuire drove inside where he was fouled in the act of shooting. He hit both free throws, and now Marshall held its largest lead of the game at eight points (43-35) with 4:51 to go on the clock.
After Olney trimmed the Lions lead to five (43-38), the Tigers had a chance to cut the lead down to three or even two with a three-pointer, but Zach Jones made a play on defense when he stole a pass, and he was off to the races. Jones outran the Olney team all the way to the goal where he went up and scored to make it 45-38 with 3 ½ left in the game. Olney got within five again (45-40), then the Tigers resorted to fouling in hopes Marshall would miss free throws. At the 3:10 mark, Payton McGuire sank two free throws to make the score 47-40. McGuire hit two more free throws to offset five points scored by Olney (49-45) over the next minute of play. After a questionable over-and-back call on Marshall where Payton McGuire was bumped into the backcourt, Olney came back and scored to make it a two-point game (49-47) with 1:22 to go. Two second later, Payton McGuire was fouled again, and he went to the free throw line and sank both free throws to give the Lions a 51-47 lead with 1:20 left in the game.
On Olney’s next possession, Payton McGuire stole the ball for Marshall, and after Tucker Osborn was fouled and hit a free throw, Marshall’s lead was now five (52-47) with 44.9 seconds to go. Olney hit two free throws to make it a three-point game (52-49) before Marshall broke the press, and with 38.6 seconds left on the clock, Marshall’s Garret Pugh was fouled, and after he hit both free throws, Marshall was ahead 54-49. After a miss by Olney, Bryce Griguhn grabbed a huge rebound as he was fouled. Griguhn hit a free throw to give the Lions a 55-49 lead with 18.2 seconds to go. Olney missed their next shot, and the Lions grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock to win the game by the score of 55-49. With the win, Marshall advanced to the semifinal round of the LIC tournament.
Big plays on the offensive end were made by everyone on the rotation, whether it was Liam Keim rebounding and scoring two big buckets on the offensive end, to Bryce Griguhn and Tommy Sheehy beating and banging with Olney's football players inside, to Zach Jones making a huge steal and breakaway score in the fourth quarter after he was fouled and sank two big free throws at the end of the third, to Tucker Osborn pulling down important rebounds and knocking down a huge three-pointer to end the first half, to Garrett Pugh and Payton McGuire carrying Olney defenders on their backs all over the court and providing vital leadership, Marshall pulled out the win over Olney as one.
Payton McGuire led the Lions with 21 points in the ballgame. McGuire sank all 10 of his free throws in the fourth quarter as Olney resorted to fouling during the final 3 minutes of play, and as a team, the Lions hit 16 of 20 free throws. Garrett Pugh battled inside all game long to tally 12 points, while Zach Jones and Bryce Griguhn each ended up with 6 points. Tucker Osborn and Liam Keim finished with 4 points apiece, and Tommy Sheehy had 2 points.
Marshall plays their next game this coming Wednesday with the weather moving the tournament schedule back. On Wednesday night, the Lions are scheduled to play top-seeded and IHSA Class 1A #1 ranked Lawrenceville at Robinson High School for the chance to advance to the conference championship game. Tipoff for the contest is scheduled for 6:00 PM.
Bryce Griguhn goes up and scores for Marshall against Olney in the LIC Tournament
Zach Jones made a big steal and breakaway score to help Marshall stay out in front of Olney
Payton McGuire rains down a triple against Olney
Garret Pugh scores inside with an Olney defender draped all over him
