Following two tough losses this weekend to Calloway County and Paducah Tilghman, the Marshals will reset and look to Tuesday’s final regular season game against Webster County (12-15) to finish out the schedule with a win.
Friday at Calloway County, the Marshals led at the end of the first and third quarter before the Lakers outscored them by 10 in the fourth to win 65-56 and sweep the regular season series over the Marshals.
There’s an old adage – it’s hard to beat a team three times – especially when it comes to the 4th District and the Marshals hope it’s true when they meet the Lakers again on Saturday in the #2-#3 seed game of the district tournament with a spot in the 1st Region Tournament on the line.
Friday in Murray, the Marshals trialed 8-5 in the first quarter and it was cut to one point on a field goal by Quinn Smith. Just entering the game, Cole Mills gave the Marshals the lead at 9-8 and they would extend it to four points before Zach Hudgin hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter to cut it to one. Kole Sedlock scored to finish out the first on a 14-11 lead.
Not able to get anything to drop to open the second quarter, Mills finally found the net to give the Marshals their largest lead at 16-11. Freshman Eli Finley put the Lakers back on top at 19-18 and their lead grew to 23-18 on a basket by Matthew Ray that capped off a 10-0 Calloway run. The Marshals cut the lead down to one but a basket by Findley at the buzzer put the Lakers up 27-24 at halftime.
The Marshals outscored the Lakers 19-15 in the third quarter to lead by one at 43-42. The combination of Sedlock and Wade Moore made up all but one point of the scoring. Sedlock had 11 in the quarter and Moore a run of seven consecutive points.
Calloway outscored the Marshals by 10 in the fourth quarter. Back-to-back buckets by Moore and Mills tied the game at 52-52 and with 2:00 to go, Calloway held a four-point lead at 56-52.
Smith’s basket with 30 seconds on the clock kept the Marshals within four at 60-56 but forced to foul, the Lakers made 5-of-6 at the line to finish it out.
Marshall 14 10 19 13 – 56
Calloway 11 16 15 23 – 65
Marshall: Sedlock 17, Moore 15, Mills 9, Schroader 7, Smith 5, Wall 3
Calloway: Finley 19, Ray 17, Butler 16, Hudgin 8, Franklin 3, Clinton 2
Facing Paducah Tilghman on Saturday, the Marshals were looking to even another two-game series with a 1st Region opponent. Within striking distance most of the first half, the Marshals pulled to within one of the Tornados six times but unable to gain the lead throughout the game.
Trailing 18-12 at the end of the first quarter, they cut it to five at halftime at 34-29. Sedlock scored 10 in the half while Tilghman was led by Tragen Arthur with 13.
The third quarter proved to be big for the Tornados who outscored the Marshals by 11 to lead by 16 at 58-42 going into the final eight minutes.
Schroader scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter, including a run of eight straight for the Marshals that cut the Tilghman lead to nine points. They whittled it down to six at 67-61 following a 3-pointer by Hunter Anderson and held it at six again at 70-64 on a 3-point play by Schroader but Jayvion Powell made three successful trips to the basket to finish out the final six points of the game and give the Tornados a 12-point win.
Tilghman 18 16 24 18 – 76
Marshall 12 17 13 22 – 64
Tilghman (16-8): Powell 21, Arthur 17, Shaw 14, Fitzgerald 8, Warren 8, Bradley 3
Marshall (17-10): Sedlock 15, Schroader 13, Smith 8, Mills 7, Wallace 7, Moore 7, Anderson 3, Smothers 2, Wall 2