Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On Tuesday, February 10th, the Marshall High School boys basketball team headed up the road north to Olivet and Notre Dame de La Salette Academy for a non-conference doubleheader inside La Salette’s unique and venerable gymnasium. Marshall came in with a record of 11-12, while La Salette came in with a record of 21-4.
In a tightly contested game where Marshall’s largest lead was 6 points, and La Salette’s largest lead was 1 point, came down to the wire. After one quarter of play, La Salette led 17-16. In Quarter #2, Marshall led by as many as 5 points before La Salette closed the gap to get within 1 point at the half with Marshall leading 27-26. In the first half, Bryce Griguhn and Payton McGuire each had 8 points to lead the way. Garrett Pugh had 6 points at the break, while Tommy Sheehy had 3 and Zach Jones had 2.
In the third quarter, Marshall’s Payton McGuire appeared to have sustained an injury to his left (non-shooting) thumb. He immediately left the game, and when he attempted to return to the floor, he could not continue. At the end of the third, Tommy Sheehy drained a three-pointer from the left wing to give the Lions a 35-30 lead heading to the fourth.
In the final quarter, La Salette tied it up at 35 and again at 37, then the home team went ahead by 1 on a free throw. Marshall’s Garrett Pugh tied the game at 38, then Marshall went ahead 40-38 when Garrett Pugh scored at the rim with 2:30 to go in the game. La Salette managed to tie it up at 40 with just over a minute left, then with 16 seconds to go, Marshall was called for a foul on a shot by La Salette. The La Salette player made one of two free throws, then as Marshall went for the win in the final seconds, a foul was never whistled on obvious contact by two La Salette defenders at the left block. When the final buzzer sounded, the homestanding La Salette squad escaped with a 1-point win by the score of 41-40.
Marshall was led in scoring by Bryce Griguhn, who in his first game back from injury, tallied 12 points. Payton McGuire scored 11, and Garrett Pugh finished with 9. Tommy Sheehy ended up with 6 on two three-point buckets, and Zach Jones rounded out the Lions scoring with 2 points.
The Lions (11-13) return to action this Friday night when they host Teutopolis in a non-conference doubleheader. The junior varsity game is scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM, with the varsity contest to follow. On Saturday afternoon, Marshall is scheduled to host Charleston for a non-conference doubleheader in their final home appearance of the regular season. The JV game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 PM, with the varsity game to follow.
Bryce Griguhn (33) paced the Lions with 12 points against La Salette Academy (1)
Tommy Sheehy (15) drains a three-pointer for Marshall at the buzer to end the third quarter against La Salette Academy (1)
