The First Region’s marquee game on Friday was a battle between two unbeaten rivals when McCracken County hosted Marshall County. Both coming in at 6-0 with McCracken County the pre-season #1 ranked team and the Marshals a preseason #8 pick, a position they are quickly proving did not set well with them through the first six games of the season.
At the final buzzer, the Mustangs picked up their 14th straight win over the Marshals while handing them their first loss of the season by a final score of 48-44.
A 3-pointer by senior Carson Purvis opened the game up for McCracken County and a basket by senior Jack McCune gave them a quick 5-0 lead. Two straight baskets from Logan Parker kick-started the Marshals sluggish start on the score board to cut the lead to one but a three from Conner Miller gave the Mustangs a 10-4 lead to end the first quarter.
Trailing 13-4, the Marshals put together a 6-0 run on baskets by Parker, Logan Davis and Jacob Wilson to cut the lead down to three points. After trailing 16-10, the Marshals got buckets from Chase Binkley and back-to-back baskets from Alex Staples to cut the lead down to two points at 18-16 and they trailed by three at the half.
A 3-pointer by Staples tied the game up at 21 to open the second half but the Mustangs went back up by six on back-to-back 3-pointers. Staples again with back-to-back buckets cut it to three points and a three by Trey Wall knotted the game up once again at 28. Ian Hart finished out the third quarter scoring with a basket and bonus at the line to put the Mustangs up 34-31.
Hunter Wallace dropped in a three to open the fourth quarter on a 34-34 tie and with a 3-pointer from Wall, the Marshals took their first lead of the night at 37-36.
With five minutes remaining, the game was tied up at 41-41. After the Mustangs went back by four, a free throw by Staples cut it to two and Davis with the reverse lay in made it a one-point game at 45-44 with 2:30 left.
Trailing by two with just seconds to go, the Marshals with possession, battled fiercely under the goal for one to go in and tie it but it resulted in a foul which sent McCune to the line with 3.2 seconds on the clock and he drained both for the four-point win.
McCune led McCracken County with 14 points, 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Alex Staples led the Marshals with 14 points. The Mustangs stepped up to the free throw line 19 times and converted on 14 while the Marshals made eight trips to the line and made six.
They will face another First Region test today when they travel to play Mayfield (4-1) in a 7:30 tip off.
Marshall County 4 14 13 13 – 44
McCracken County 10 11 13 14 – 48
Marshall County (6-1): Alex Staples 14, Trey Wall 6, Logan Parker 6, Logan Davis 5, Wade Moore 4, Hunter Wallace 3, Orrin Phelps 2, Chase Binkley 2, Jacob Wilson 2
McCracken County (7-0): Jack McCune 14, Ian Hart 10, Carson Purvis 10, Jack Bradley 3, Connor Miller 3, Dylan Jackson 3, Jonathon Venable 3, Jordan Bridges 2
