Marshall
teams qualify for North tourney
•
School hosting big event this week
By BARRY BURLESON
Editor
The
Mississippi Private School Association (MPSA) North AA
Basketball Tournament will include two teams representing
the host school.
The Marshall
Academy Patriots and Lady Patriots earned berths last
week with second-place and fourth-place finishes,
respectively, in the District Tournament at Indianola.
They are hosting the 16-team (eight boys squads and eight
girls) North State event this week in Holly Springs.
Competition started Tuesday.
The
second-seeded varsity Patriots lost 59-49 to top-seeded
Clarksdale Lee in the title matchup Saturday night.
Will
Forester was the lone Patriot scoring in double figures.
He had 10. Tossing in nine each were Robby Autry and John
David Sanders. Thomas Rodgers was strong on the boards.
He pulled down 15 rebounds.
The
Patriots, who saw their record go to 20-11 on the season,
were down 14-6 after one quarter, 32-20 at the half and
40-29 after three.
In the
semi-finals Friday, Marshall avenged a January 22 loss to
Indianola, winning 59-46.
“Indianola
had beaten us a couple of weeks earlier on our home
court,” said Marshall Head Coach Keith Taylor.
“To turn around and beat them on their home floor in
the District Tournament meant a lot. We had control of
the game. We played tremendous defense. It was one of our
best defensive efforts of the season.”
He
particularly praised the defense of Thomas Carlisle and
Rodgers.
“They
did a tremendous job of stopping Indianola’s big
man,” Taylor said.
The Patriots
featured balanced scoring on offense. Four scored in
double digits – Sanders with 14, Autry with 11 and
Forester and Boyce Hollingsworth with 10 each. Forester
led in rebounds with nine and assists with seven.
They led
31-19 at the half.
Marshall
Academy routed Carroll Academy 79-40 in the opening round
of the tournament.
Sanders and
Carlisle provided the offensive firepower as they tossed
in 17 points each. Sanders hit five three-pointers.
Forester followed with 10 points, and he dished out seven
assists. Steven Gresham was the top rebounder with 10.
The
Patriots, the second-place team in District 1, opened
North State play Tuesday night against East Rankin, the
third-place team from District 2.
With a win,
they will play Friday, Feb. 11, at 7:15 p.m. in the
semi-finals against the Winston Academy-North Delta
School winner.
The Lady
Patriots tipped off District Tournament play with a 57-42
victory over Bayou.
Head coach
Tommy Gunn’s team led 26-22 at the half and nailed
down the win late with some big free throws.
“We
were 11 of 16 from the free-throw line in the fourth
quarter to finish the win off,” said assistant coach
Christopher Hedglin.
Kim Shaw was
the top gun with 17 points. Amy Harris was close behind
with 15, and Chelsea Faulkenbery had 10.
The
fourth-seeded Marshall girls then met top-seeded and host
school Indianola in the semi-finals and lost 65-46.
Indianola
took control early, outscoring the Lady Patriots 22-10 in
the first quarter.
Harris led
the way for Marshall with 12 points. Wynne Boatwright
followed with 11.
That loss
put the Lady Patriots in the consolation game on Saturday
where they dropped a 46-36 decision to Kirk.
Kirk grabbed
a 16-8 advantage after one quarter. Marshall outscored
Kirk 8-2 in the second quarter and trailed 18-16 at the
half. The game was then tied at 26 after three periods.
The fourth
quarter was all Kirk. They outscored Marshall 20-10 and
earned the 10-point win.
“They
made a lot of free throws in the fourth,” Hedglin
said.
Leading the
Lady Patriots, who went to 22-14 on the season, was Shaw
with 14 points.
“I was
disappointed with our play in the District, and because
of that, we’re a fourth seed,” Gunn said.
“We will give it our best shot this week.”
The Marshall
girls, fourth-place team from District 1, meets Leake
Academy, the top team from District 2, in the North AA
Tournament on Wednesday of this week at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re
playing a great team,” Gunn said. “We’ve
got our hands full.”
With an
upset win, they will play Friday, Feb. 11, at 2:15 p.m.
against the East Rankin-North Delta School winner.
The
semi-finals of the tournament are Friday with two
sessions – the girls at 1 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. and the
boys at 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. The finals are Saturday,
again with two sessions, the girls at 1 p.m.
(consolation) and 2:15 p.m. (championship) and the boys
at 6 p.m. (consolation) and 7:15 p.m. (championship).
Admission to
each session of the tournament is $5 per person. No
Marshall Academy student activity cards or Booster Club
season passes will be accepted. Only official MPSA passes
will be accepted.
The top four
teams from the North (girls and boys) advance to the
Class AA State Tournament next week at Brookhaven
Academy.
Report News:
(662) 252-4261 or south@dixie-net.com
Questions, comments, corrections: south@dixie-net.com
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