MURRAY – A Marshall County-Graves County boys matchup in the 1st Region Tournament is a classic rivalry that was by far the most anticipated of the first round games. The Marshals beat the Eagles 72-59 to move on to Friday’s semi-final against McCracken County – an 80-48 winner over Hickman County.
Zion Harmon – who is headed to Western Kentucky to play for the Hilltoppers – had an outstanding night with 37 points to lead the charge for the Marshals. Riley Smith had one of his best games of the season with a double-double 16 points and 12 rebounds.
It was Smith who opened the game with a 3-pointer off an assist from Harmon. A 3-pointer by Drew Thompson tied it for the Eagles before Harmon hit his first of five 3-pointers. Another three, this time from the Eagles’ Mason Grant tied the game at 6-6 before Harmon’s next bucket gave the Marshals the lead for good.
Harmon scored the final seven points of the first quarter to lead the Marshals to a 20-11 lead going into the second and his 24 points in the half fueled their 34-22 lead at halftime.
The Eagles opened the second half on a 6-0 run – six points by Grant before Kaden Driver scored for the Marshals. John Ben Brown hit two free throws followed by two more points from Grant and the Eagles were back in the game, cutting the lead down to four points at 36-32.
The Marshals went on to out-score the Eagles 15-9 to end the third quarter up 53-41, the final points coming on a long 3-pointer by Harmon who was fouled and made the free throw to complete the four point play.
Riley Smith, Quinn Smith and Harmon led the Marshals in scoring in the fourth quarter in the 13-point win that ended the Graves County’s season with a record of 18-6.
Friday’s semi-final against McCracken County is at 8:00 in a rematch of last year’s title game the Marshals lost 43-42. Paducah Tilghman and Murray will play in the first semi-final at 5:30.
Marshall 20 14 19 19 – 72
Graves 11 11 19 18 – 59
Marshall: Harmon 37, R. Smith 16, Q. Smith 8, Driver 6, Miller 2, Mills 2, Schroader 1
Marshall: FG 26/47, 3 Pt 6/14 (Harmon 5, R. Smith 1), FT 14/19 (Harmon 4/4), Reb 37 (R. Smith 12)
Graves: Grant 27, Thompson 16, Flint 7, Isaiah 5, Brown 4
