Marshall County held a 45-43 lead in the closing seconds of the Fourth District Championship game and with three seconds on the clock following a Calloway County time out, the Lakers final shot fell short and the victory celebration began for the Marshals.
Neither team put up the offensive numbers of their two regular season games so it came down to a defensive battle. Tyler Stokes led the Marshals with 20 points while Kade Mize led the Lakers with 16 points. The Marshals defensive effort held Chandler Steele to eight points. Steele scored 23 in the Lakers 72-71 win over the Marshals on Feb. 14.
Without Zion Harmon on the floor who scored 50 points against the Lakers on Feb. 14, several players stepped up, including Kaden Driver with eight points and a very timely 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Driver was joined in the Marshals defensive effort against the Lakers by Brady Miller and Quinn Smith who both saw key minutes in the win.
Points from Stokes, Driver and Tyler Powell combined to give the Marshals an 11-6 first quarter lead that was cut to two on a second quarter opening three from Kade Mize. The Lakers tied the game up at 15 and went up by three on Mize’s second three to take their first lead since they opened the game 1-0.
Mize dropped in his third three of the game to put the Lakers up 21-17, prompting Head Coach Terry Birdsong to call a time out. A Miller free throw followed by buckets from Stokes and Smith put the Marshals back on top at 22-21. Driver gave the Marshals a 24-23 lead before Ki Franklin’s buzzer-beater three put the Lakers up 26-24 at halftime.
Calloway County led by five points at 34-29 in the third quarter, the Marshals closing it to 34-33 going into the final frame on free throws by Stokes and a basket from Powell.
Driver’s big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter gave the Marshals a 39-38 lead and with 1:22 remaining, Stokes dropped in two at the free throw line for a 43-40 lead that was cut to one on free throws by Steele. A couple more at the line by Jay Nimmo put the Marshals back up 45-42 and the final point from the Lakers came on a free throw by Mize with 47 seconds to go and a 45-43 game.
Calloway County had the ball in the final 18 seconds, calling two time outs during that span, but couldn’t to find the net to tie or take the win. Both teams advance to next week’s Region I Tournament at the CFSB Center in Murray.
Calloway County 6 26 34 43
Marshall County 11 24 33 45
Scoring
Calloway County: Kade Mize 16, Ki Franklin 8, Chandler Steele 8, Cade Butler 7, Jarrett Darnell 2, Jackson Chapman 2
Marshall County: Tyler Stokes 20, Tyler Powell 9, Kaden Driver 8, Jay Nimmo 4, Brady Miller 2, Quinn Smith 2
