Graves County won the first of two regular season games over the Marshals 52-47 on December 8 at Reed Conder Gymnasium, but the Marshals evened the score with a 56-52 win on Friday at the Eagles Nest.
Leading scorer Alex Staples was back after some time off with an injury and led the Marshals in the win with 13 points, Tommy Robertson scored 12 points and Logan Parker 11. It was a good night at the free throw line for the Marshals, hitting 22 of 27 attempts while the Eagles were 7-of-8.
The Marshals trailed by two points at 10-8 in the first quarter after their two leading scorers, Staples and Matthew Langhi picked up two early fouls, but senior Orrin Phelps stepped up to score the final five points of the quarter to give them a 13-10 lead.
Behind eight points from Tommy Robertson, the Marshals outscored the Eagles 19-12 in the second quarter to command a 32-20 lead at halftime.
Staples scored the first four points of the second half to give the Marshals their largest lead of 14 points. The Eagles chipped away at the Marshals lead and trimmed it to six (43-37) at the end of the quarter behind seven points from Lukas Pigg and a three before the buzzer by Carson Carrico.
A three pointer by Carrico tied the game up at 47-47 with 2:53 remaining before the state’s 11th ranked free throw shooting team closed out the final moments of the game at the line, hitting nine of 10 attempts to earn the 56-52 win.
Three players were perfect at the line including Phelps (4/4), Parker (4/4) and Robertson (3/3). Staples (3/4), Ryan Stokes (4/6) and Kyzer Phillipe (4/6) rounded out the free throw shooting.
The Marshals will host Christian Fellowship on Saturday at 3:30 following the Lady Marshals game.
Marshall 13 19 11 13 – 56
Graves 10 12 15 15 – 52
Marshall (11-4): Alex Staples 13, Tommy Robertson 12, Logan Parker 11, Orrin Phelps 7, Kyzer Phillips 7, Ryan Stokes 4, Cash Henson 2
Graves (12-4): Lukas Pigg 20, Braden Waller 10, Carson Carrico 10, Briley VeuCasovic 7, Taytum Holland 3, Kace Tubbs 2
