MA splits with Lee; tourney this week

The Marshall Academy Patriots avenged an earlierseason loss and picked up a District 1-4A win Monday of last week at home.

MA rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to knock off Lee Academy (of Clarksdale) 50-42.

The Pats were down 9-8 after one quarter and 25-17 at the halfway mark.

The third didn’t start well. At the 2:56 mark, the Colts enjoyed a 34-20 advantage.

That’s when ninth grader

Carson Orman entered the game and caught fire from long range. He hit three threes as Marshall pulled to within 36-31 with 46 seconds to go in the third.

Walker Sanders added a three before the end of the quarter to pull the Patriots within two, 36-34.

Matt Bourdon tied the game almost three minutes into the fourth, and then Hayes Henry converted a three-point play with 3:30 left to put MA on top 39-36.

The Patriots got key free throws from Rusty Bolden and Sanders in the last minute and won by eight.

Bourdon led the offensive effort with 15 points. Bolden was next with 13.

The match-up between the Lady Patriots and the Fillies was tight throughout with Lee getting a 45-41 win.

Marshall was up 12-11 after one quarter, 17-16 at halftime, and 30-28 after three periods.

Lee snatched the lead a few minutes into the fourth and was up 37-34 with 3:28 on the clock. At the 1:54 mark, Kamdyn Taylor scored on a spin move and the game was tied at 39. Evelyn Greer cashed in two free throws 30 second later to put MA back on top, 41-39.

Lee was able to get points on a couple of fast breaks in the final 50 seconds and left Holly Springs with the fourpoint victory.

Marshall’s Hallie Turner scored 13 points, including three threes.

The Patriots (10-10 overall and 6-4 in the district) and Lady Patriots (9-12 overall and 4-6 in the district) will compete in the District 1-4A Tournament this week at Rossville Christian Academy (Tenn.).

Both are seeded fourth. The MA boys opened against Kirk Academy on Tuesday of this week, while the MA girls faced Lee the same night.

With wins, they will advance to the semi-finals Friday at 6:30 (G) and 7:45 p.m. (B), respectively. Consolation and championship contests are slated for Saturday, the first of four games starting at 1 p.m.

The top four teams (boys and girls) will move on to the North State Tournament next week at North Delta School in Batesville.