Thursday, January 27, 2011
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Thursday, January 27, 2011 |
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Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | Photo Gallery |
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Marshall teams beat Tunica, Indianola, Kirk By BARRY BURLESON
Marshall Academy basketball teams improved their records to a combined 39-15 last week. But more importantly, they remained unbeaten in District 1- AA play with wins over Indianola Academy and Kirk Academy. The Lady Patriots (18-10 and 7-0) and Patriots (21-5 and 7-0) visited rival North Delta Monday night to wrap up district play in the regular season. MA-Tunica The Lady Patriots went on a 16-3 run in the third quarter Tuesday, Jan. 18, at Tunica Academy and then coasted to the 38-19 win. Callie Clanton and Emma Elgin were the top point producers with 14 and 10, respectively. “You could tell our focus was on the weekend games (ahead), but we focused enough to win,” coach Craig Dailey said. MA was up 16-8 at halftime. Then Elgin provided the early spark in the third with a three, followed by a steal and lay-up. It was 32-11 going into the final period. The Marshall boys, led by Kevin Fitzpatrick’s 20-point performance, downed the Devils 63- 47. The Patriots fell behind 12-9 after one quarter. Mitch Gholson tied the game at 16 with a three early in the second period and Fitzpatrick closed out the quarter with back-to-back buckets. MA was in front 32-21. Tunica cut it to seven midway through the third but Taylor Maurey and Gholson answered with threes. Fitzpatrick hit a long three at the buzzer and the Pats led 48-37. They were on top by as many as 22 in the fourth before winning by 16. “Tunica has a very athletic group and the guys overcame a slow start to put them away,” Coach Dailey said. “Kevin had his best offensive game of the year. He and Peyton (Lewis) did a great job of attacking their zone in the post. Taylor had his normal solid game at the point position.” Maurey added 12 points and Lewis 11. Chase Ferrell had eight. MA-Indianola
Clanton and Kelsey Shaw combined for 41 as the Lady Patriots went on the road and downed Indianola 50-47 in an overtime thriller. Clanton gunned in 25 points. Shaw had 16. “Callie was unstoppable,” he said. “She definitely took it to another level. Kelsey had a huge second half and led us in the OT period. “We found a way to win in a tough environment and situation. This girls group is developing into an extremely clutch group.” The game was tight and intense throughout. It was tied at 11 after one quarter and at 18 at the intermission. Marshall went up by five midway through the third. Then the Lady Colonels rallied to lead 32-29 at the end of the period. Wesleyann Ray’s free throw with 2:08 left put the Lady Pats up 41-40 but they trailed again (42-41) going into the last minute of play. Clanton drilled a three with 23 seconds remaining to lift MA ahead 44-42; however, Indianola knotted the contest with two seconds left. Shaw scored all six of the Lady Pats’ points in OT. The Marshall boys were in total command from the opening tip at Indianola. They routed the Colonels 62-26. Brad Bennett was on target early. He hit three threes in the first quarter as MA went up 19-9. “Brad came out of the gate on fire and didn’t really let up,” Dailey said. “This is great to see as we inch closer to the playoffs.” The Patriots turned it up a notch in the second quarter and surged ahead 36-18. The margin was 50-23 after three. Bennett led the offense with 17 points. Ferrell had 10 and Jordan Brock eight. Ten Patriots scored. MA-Kirk It was another district nail-biter for the Lady Patriots Saturday night. Kirk, the visiting team, missed a long-range shot at the buzzer and Marshall won 26-25. “I thought at their place we played the best defense one of my teams had played in quite a while,” Dailey said. “This one surpassed that game and to do it with only part of our squad is special. “Callie and Emma hit some huge shots. In this one, if they went through the net they were huge.” The Lady Patriots led by two at the conclusion of both the first and second quarters. In the third, Elgin hit a pair of threes and Clanton one. MA took a 21-18 lead. The home squad then fell behind by one in the fourth period until Clanton drilled another three at the 1:09 mark to give Marshall a 26-24 advantage. They hung on from there. Clanton had 10 points. Elgin followed with nine. “This secures the number one seed for my girls in district and puts us in the best possible situation in the tournament,” he said. “I am extremely proud of the girls and their regular season accomplishments. Now we have to turn around in a little over a week and do it again for the blue trophy.” The Marshall boys had trouble pulling away from a feisty bunch of Raiders in the nightcap. They used a strong second half to win 69-40. MA led 11-10 after one but fell behind by three early in the second. Ferrell’s two points put the Pats in front 15-14 at the 3:56 mark and they never trailed again. Maurey’s lay-up just before the first-half buzzer upped the lead to 28-21. Kirk got to within four in the third but then it was all Patriots, thanks in large part to their relentless pressure on defense. The lead was 13 when Brock hit a three. That margin held until the end of the third (42-29). Bennett, Maurey and Matt Rappa all drained threes in the fourth as the Pats won by 29. Maurey and Bennett scored 13 each. Ferrell had 11. “We had jumped all over Kirk during the Christmas tournament as they were short-manned and we were spoiling from the Trinity disappointment,” he said. “I think we thought the same would follow and Coach McCain had them ready to compete. “Taylor, Brad and Chase all had steady offensive games throughout. We stepped up the defensive pressure in the second and finally wore Kirk down.” MA teams hosted Lee (Ark.) Tuesday. Friday night is “Senior Night” when they host Marvell (Ark.). Next Monday, Jan. 31, they visit Madison Ridgeland Academy to end the regular season. |
       
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