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Lady Patriots second in tournament By BARRY BURLESON
Editor  | Photos by Barry Burleson
Trapping and scoring
(Left) Megan Anderson and Lauralee Fant (right) trap a Lady Cougar. (Right) Callie Clanton scores two of her 34 versus Lee. |
Both
the Marshall Academy varsity Lady Patriots and the junior high girls
finished second in their own preseason tournament last week. Varsity The Lady Patriots opened the tourney with an easy 52-17 win over Lee (Marianna, Ark.) Tuesday, Oct. 26.  Callie Clanton poured in 34 points to start her senior season with a bang. She was 13 of 17 from the free-throw line.
“Callie was on fire,” coach Craig Dailey said. “She has developed into an extremely tough matchup for people.” The MA girls were up 11-4 after one quarter, 24-6 at the half and 44-13 following three periods. Marshall was 18 of 26 from the charity stripe. “As a whole, I thought it was a great all-around first game effort on both ends of the floor,” he said. Thursday, the Lady Pats advanced to the championship game with a hard-fought 38-30 win over district rival North Delta. Kelsey
Shaw was the top gun on this night. The senior scored 18, including
eight of 10 from the free-throw line. Clanton added 12. “Kelsey
had one of her best games ever, on offense and defense,” Dailey said.
“She just seemed to hit a big shot every time they made a run. “Callie
had a great second half after making it through foul difficulties.
Elizabeth Skelton’s five points in the second quarter gave us a big
first half burst.” Both teams’ defenses dominated
in the early going. Marshall led 4-2 after one quarter and managed to
stretch it to 16-8 at intermission. “It was a
tremendous defensive ballgame this early,” Coach Dailey said. “North
Delta runs a lot of the same stuff from last year and the kids mentally
were way ahead due to that. “Megan (Anderson), Lauralee (Fant), Emma (Elgin), and Lane (Cunningham) all had solid defensive performances.” Clanton
opened the third period with a basket but the Lady Green Wave battled
back. The visitors cut their deficit to 18-15 midway through the
quarter and forced Coach Dailey to call a timeout. Back-to-back buckets by Shaw, including one three-pointer, gave the Patriots a 26-18 advantage at the end of the third. The closest North Delta got in the fourth quarter was four points. Clanton and Shaw nailed critical free throws in the last two minutes. “This was a good early win,” Dailey said. The Lady Patriots dropped a 60-49 decision to Delta in the title contest Saturday night. “We looked a little timid on offense early and they came out on fire,” he said. MA trailed 27-14 at the half but kept battling. “Callie
exploded for a huge second half to help us get back in it,” he said.
“Kelsey had another good night on offense. Emma hit some big shots and
Lane did a great job of helping us to beat their traps.” Clanton finished with 25 points. Shaw had 14. “We’ve got to do a better job versus pressure,” Dailey said. “We will get to work and be more prepared the next time. “I am proud of the fact my girls didn’t quit; we battled to the end and had a chance or two to get back in it. “Coach
Finnie and his girls are an extremely tough opponent. They should win
their second straight state Class A title and hopefully we can do our
job and get another shot at them at overall. “I
want to thank all the parents and patrons who helped us put on a very
successful tournament. It was a great showing by the MA family.” Jr. high The Marshall junior high Lady Patriots went 3-1 in the tournament and finished second. They tipped off tourney competition by downing Marvell (Ark.) 38-22. The Lady Pats were in control, 22-6, at the half. Elizabeth Skelton led the offense with 17 points. The next night, MA’s seventh and eighth graders knocked off another Arkansas school (Lee) 33-12. The
game stayed close until the fourth. MA carried a 22-12 lead to the
final quarter and then outscored the Lady Cougars 11-0 in the fourth. Blake Martin led the Lady Pats with 12 points. The
junior high girls’ most satisfying win of the preseason tournament came
Thursday night when they beat Magnolia Heights 35-30. Skelton lit up the scoreboard with 22 points. She hit four three-pointers, three of those in the second half. MA led 9-6 after one quarter, 13-10 at the half and 24-18 following three periods. Martin, who scored eight points, hit four of six free throw tries in the fourth quarter to seal the win. The junior high Lady Pats fell 48-15 to North Delta in the championship game Saturday. “The
girls played very hard all through the tournament,” coach David Austin
said. “Our youth really showed up against North Delta but we will learn
and bounce back.” Schedule MA
teams visited Lee (Ark.) Monday. They are scheduled to host Tunica next
Monday, Nov. 8, and play Myrtle at home next Tuesday, Nov. 9. |
