Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
The Marshall High School girls basketball team hosted the Arthur/Lovington/Atwood/Hammond (ALAH) Knights for a varsity only non-conference game inside McNary Gymnasium on Tuesday, February 3rd. Marshall came in with a record of 11-9, while ALAH came in with a record of 13-13. After starting their season 6-13, ALAH has won their last seven straight games to even its record.
Marshall won the opening tip, and the Lions got right into their offense. Lynn Welborn scored the first bucket of the game when she grabbed an offensive rebound on the left side and put the ball back up and in to make it 2-0. After getting a stop on the Knights’ first offensive possession, Marshall’s Harper Richardson lobbed a pass over the ALAH defense to Lynn Welborn curling around a screen on the right side. Welborn caught the pass and scored to give the Lions a 4-0 lead with 1:30 gone in the first quarter as ALAH called time out.
About a minute later, ALAH scored inside to make it 4-2, Lynn Welborn scored again, this time on the left block, to give Marshall an 8-2 lead. After a free throw for the Knights, they scored another bucket to cut the Lions’ lead to 3 (8-5). On Marshall’s next offensive possession, Lynn Welborn took a pass from out of bounds inside the lane, and she banked home the 10-footer to make it 10-5. With under a minute left in the opening quarter, ALAH scored to make the score 10-7, but Marshall quickly came back up the floor. McKenzie Davis held the ball on the left wing when she zipped a pass down to Lynn Welborn at the right elbow. Welborn then turned and scored Marshall’s 12th point of the quarter. ALAH’s Sophie Mont sank a free throw in the final sequence of the first quarter, which ended with Marshall leading by four points (12-8).
ALAH scored on their first possession of the second quarter to trim Marshall’s lead to two points (12-10) before it became apparent that the Knights were going to double team Lynn Welborn in the second quarter after she scored all 12 points for Marshall in the first. With Welborn being followed all over the floor by two Knights defenders, the visitors’ strategy opened up the outside for Marshall, who saw eight Lions score in the second quarter. After Harper Richardson sank a free throw to start the scoring for Marshall (13-10), Ella Mattas knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing to make it 16-10. After a defensive stop, Lilly Ross rained down a three-pointer from the right side to give Marshall a 19-10 lead with 4:08 to go in the quarter. The Lions got a steal on the next sequence, and on a nice passing sequence, Lilly Ross passed it out up top to Marlee Heighton, who turned and passed the ball to Addy Ross who came in from the left wing to the paint, and Ross turned and scored to give the Lions a 21-10 lead with 3:40 showing on the clock.
After Morgan Casteel scored for ALAH to make the score 21-12, Marshall’s Marlee Heighton drained a three-pointer for the Lions to double up the Knights with the score 24-12 with 3 minutes to go before the half. Another stop on the defensive end gave the ball back to the Lions, who found Nya Engledow along the right wing behind the arc. Engledow hit the three-pointer, and all of a sudden Marshall now led 27-12 with 2:38 to go in the second.
ALAH scored at the 2:23 mark (27-14 Marshall), then with 1:45 to go until halftime, Marshall’s McKenzie Davis was fouled. She hit both free throws to make it 29-14 in favor of the Lions. Four straight points by ALAH brought the score to 29-18 with just over a minute to go on the clock, then Marshall attacked the ALAH defense when Harper Richardson dribbled into the middle, then she whipped a pass to a streaking Marlee Heighton on the left side. Heighton took the pass and drove into the lane where she went up and scored to make it 31-18 with 30 seconds to go before the break. The Knights got a free throw from Morgan Casteel down the stretch to bring the score to 31-19, then with 2.8 seconds left on the clock, Marshall’s Caitlyn Hilliard was fouled. She calmly sank both free throws, and the first half ended with Marshall leading by 14 (33-19).
On the first possession of the third quarter, Marshall got into a dribble weave out top with Marlee Heighton, Harper Richardson, and Addy Ross. As the defense lost sight of Lynn Welborn, she snuck behind the ALAH five and caught a pass along the right-side baseline. Welborn went in and scored the bucket to give Marshall a 35-19 lead. After two free throws for the visitors, Marshall’s Harper Richardson brought the ball up the floor and passed the ball into Lynn Welborn inside the lane. ALAH had no answer for Welborn as she drove to the hoop and scored, giving the Lions a 37-21 advantage. After another nice defensive stop by the Lions, they brought the ball back up the floor and found Lynn Welborn sneaking through the back door for another score, this time making the score 39-21 with 4:55 to go in the third quarter.
A score by ALAH was countered by two free throws by Marshall’s Lynn Welborn to bring the score to 41-23, then another sequence where ALAH scored again before Lynn Welborn scored again for Marshall on a nice pass from Marlee Heighton, and the score was now 43-25. A free throw by Harper Richardson was the only other scoring for the Lions in the third quarter, and Marshall went to the final eight minutes of play leading by 12 with the score 44-32.
Lynn Welborn scored for Marshall to begin the fourth quarter when she grabbed an offensive rebound on the left side and went back up and scored to make it 46-32. One free throw by Welborn was all the Lions got over the next 2 ½ minutes of play as ALAH got it down to a seven-point game (47-40) with under five minutes to go in the game. Marlee Heighton pushed the Lions’ lead back to nine (49-40) when she hit a 10-foot jumper in the lane with 3 ½ to go on the clock.
The Knights got to within 49-42 and had possession of the ball with a chance to get it down to five or four with a three-pointer, but Marshall held strong. With 2:12 to go in the game, Lynn Welborn sank a big bucket as she was fouled. She hit the free throw for the and-one, and the Lions were now back up by 10 (52-42). A free throw by Marlee Heighton made it an 11-point lead for the Lions (53-42), but ALAH came storming back over the next minute of play with 7 straight points to make the score 53-49 with 45 seconds left on the clock.
Down the stretch, Marshall’s Marlee Heighton (1), Harper Richardson (2), and Lynn Welborn (2) hit free throws while the Lions held the Knights scoreless the rest of the way. When the final buzzer sounded, Marshall came away with a 57-49 win to break ALAH’s seven-game winning streak.
Lynn Welborn led the Big Red with 29 points on the night. Marlee Heighton finished with 9, and Harper Richardson had 4. Ella Mattas, Lilly Ross, and Nya Engledow each scored 3, while Addy Ross, McKenzie Davis, and Caitlyn Hilliard each scored 2.
Other Statistics:
Rebounds - L. Ross 7, Richardson 7, Welborn 6, Heighton 4, Mattas 3,A.Ross 2, Davis 2
Blocked Shots - L. Ross 5, Heighton 1, Richardson 1
Steals - Welborn 3, Heighton 2, Engledow 2, Richardson 2, A. Ross 1, Davis 1, Hilliard 1
Assists - Richardson 6, Heighton 5, Davis 3, A. Ross 2
Marshall plays its next game this Thursday, February 5th when the Lions host Robinson for a varsity-only conference game inside McNary Gymnasium on the campus of Marshall High School. Marshall will celebrate Senior Night prior to the game, with Marlee Heighton, Caitlyn Hilliard, Ella Mattas, Addy Ross, Abbie Thompson, and Lynn Welborn all being recognized prior to the game. Senior Night festivities are scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM, then the teams will battle it out on the court.
Addy Ross (12) secures the offensive rebound for Marshall to maintain possession vs ALAH
Lynn Welborn (2) scores inside for Marshall against ALAH
Marlee Heighton (14) drops in a floater for Marshall vs ALAH
Harper Richardson goes high for the rebound