Cairo, IL came into Reed Conder Gymnasium Tuesday evening with a 10-2 record, their two losses to Charleston, MO and Muhlenberg County, and left with win number 11 over the Marshals 71-57. They were led by Damarius Taylor who scored half of the Pilots points with 36, hit three 3-pointers and was 7/9 at the free throw line.
Marshals Head Coach Terry Birdsong said in his post-game comments to WCBL’s Jeff Waters that his team didn’t adjust well to a different look from Cairo, not able to run anything the entire first quarter. Birdsong wasn’t happy with the amount of turnovers committed by the Marshals and thought they just weren’t ready to play after wins in holiday tournaments over top caliber teams.
Trailing 3-0 to start the game, a three by Tyler Powell tied it, the only basket from behind the arc in the game for the Marshals. Cairo led throughout the first quarter with the exception of three ties with the Marshals taking their first lead at 12-11, ending the quarter on a successful “and-1” by Aaron Reed.
The Marshals went into an offensive slump in the second quarter, scoring only four points to Cairo’s 17. Down 15-12 early in the quarter, Tyler Stokes made his first appearance in a game this season after recovering from a knee injury and scored to cut the Pilots lead to one. Cairo went on to out-score the Marshals from that point 13-2 to lead 28-16 at halftime.
Chipping away at Cairo’s lead in the third quarter, the Marshals pulled to within four points with two minutes left behind the play of Skyler Smith who made foul shots, followed up missed shots with a put back and a drive down the court and lay in for six of his eight points in the quarter. Points from Bryce Flatt, Powell and Austin Riley kept the Marshals within four points, trailing 40-36.
Baskets by Lucas Nichols and Reed cut Cairo’s lead to one with 5:14 left in the game and it would be as close as they would get. Cairo out-scored the Marshals by 10 in the fourth quarter, most of those points coming at the free throw line where they were nearly perfect in the closing minute, stretching out their lead to 14 at the final buzzer. This was Cairo’s third straight win over the Marshals.
A district double-header takes place at home on Friday against Calloway County. The Lady Marshals tip-off at 6:00 followed by the boy’s game at 7:30.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Final | |
| Cairo, IL | 11 | 28 | 40 | 71 |
| Marshall County | 12 | 16 | 36 | 57 |
SCORING
Cairo: Taylor 36, M Brown 13, Jones 9, Ward 6, Nelson 3, I Brown 2, Halliburton 2
Marshall County: Powell 14, Smith 14, Reed 10, Nichols 7, Flatt 6, Riley 2, Stokes 2, French 2
Cairo: FG 25/48, 3 PT 5/14, FT 16/23, Reb 24, Fouls 19, Ast 10, TO 9, ST 10
Marshall County: FG 23/52, 3 PT 1/9, FT 10/17, Reb 34, Fouls 22, Ast 8, TO 18, ST 2
