Marshall County opened up the FNB Bank Holiday Classic on Saturday with a 66-39 win over Tipton-Rosemark Academy from Millington, Tenn. In Sunday’s semifinal round, the Marshals beat Louisville Ballard 84-75 to advance to Monday’s championship game against Sayre at 2:00.
Sayre beat Beech Senior (Hendersonville, Tenn.) 66-53 in the second semifinal on Sunday to advance to play the Marshals. Ballard and Beech will meet in the third place game at 12:30.
With the two wins, the Marshals remain unbeaten with a record of 12-0.
Saturday, in the win over Tipton-Rosemark, the Marshals were led in scoring by Tommy Robertson and Matthew Langhi, both with 16 points. As a team they were 20-of-26 at the free throw line with Robertson leading the way, perfect with 8-of-8 while Langhi was 7-of-8.
Six points from Langhi led the Marshals in their 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Seven of Tipton-Rosemark’s points came from Demetric Words who went on to lead the Rebels scoring with 11 in the game.
Baskets by Alex Staples and Robertson extended the Marshals lead to 19-10 but the Rebels kept charging until knotting it up at 20 each on free throws from Dillon Butler. Langhi finished out the half with a basket, drawing the foul and completing the three-point play for a 23-20 halftime lead.
Robertson scored the first four points of the third quarter to put the Marshals up 27-21. Tipton-Rosemark closed the gap to four points but from there it was all Marshall County, taking control of the game and outscoring the Rebels 43-19 in the second half.
Marshall County 15 23 44 66
Tipton-Rosemark 10 20 26 39
Marshall County (10-0): Tommy Robertson 16, Matthew Langhi 16, Alex Staples 9, Kyzer Phillips 9, Neyland Jezik 8, Ryan Stokes 2, Kaden Mohler 2, J.T. Hall 2, Maxson Mitchell 2
Marshall County: FG 22/45, 3PT 2/10, FT 20/26, REB 34
Tipton-Rosemark (8-5): Demetric Words 11, Kingston Words 10, Dillon Butler 7, Brenan Patel 7, Cooper Curtis 1, Domenic Dotson 1
A fast-paced entertaining game between the Marshals and Louisville Ballard Bruins thrilled fans at Sunday’s semifinals of the FNB Bank Holiday Classic. Ballard advanced to the semifinal with a 95-51 win on Saturday over Grace Christian Academy from Fayetteville, Georgia.
A back-and-forth battle with many ties and lead changes throughout came down to the final couple of minutes when the Marshals managed to pull away and win 84-75.
Marshall County and Ballard have played three times previously and the Bruins won all three before the Marshals win on Sunday.
Head Coach Sawyer Donohoo in post-game comments to WCBL’s Jeff Waters said, “In clutch times we had guys step up and make plays.” Donohoo was happy with the way the Marshals took care of the ball and their rebounding.
Matthew Langhi led the Marshals with 30 points, 20 of which were scored in the second half. He was 4-of-4 at the free throw line and as a team, the Marshals were 12-of-13. Ballard was led by Sam Frazier with 18 points. He hit three of the Bruins 10 three-pointers and made all three of their three trips to the free throw line in the game.
Ties and lead changes made up the first quarter, giving an indication of the type of game it would be. Alex Staples scored seven first quarter points, tying the game up at 15 after the Bruins took a two-point lead on a three by Frazier. Down by two, Langhi scored before the buzzer to knot it up at 17 to end the quarter.
Five lead changes in the early stages of the second quarter were followed by a slight edge for the Bruins who went up by five at 31-26 before a three from Staples cut it back to two. Langhi with the final basket of the half sent the Marshals to the locker room trailing by two at 37-35.
Down by four to start the third quarter, Langhi scored and drew the foul to cut it to one point then followed it up with a field goal that put the Marshals back on top 40-39. Six lead changes and four ties would follow before the Marshals closed out the quarter with a 5-0 run on a three from Neyland Jezik and basket by Staples to go up 61-59.
Down by one at 62-61 to start the fourth quarter, a 9-0 run by the Marshals with scoring from Phillips, five straight by Langhi and a couple of free throws from Staples gave the Marshals a 70-62 lead.
Ballard continued to hit from beyond the arc with four threes in the third and another three in the fourth to keep it close after trailing by eight. Five straight points from Nick Hayden trimmed the Marshals lead to 72-70. A three from Phillips was answered with a three from Nate Richardson and the Marshall lead was still two at 77-75 with two minutes remaining.
A 7-0 run by the Marshals finished out the great holiday tournament game with scoring from Langhi, a three from Phillips and layup to end it by Ryan Stokes.
Marshall County 17 35 61 84
Ballard 17 37 59 75
Marshall County (12-0): Matthew Langhi 30, Alex Staples 22, Kyzer Phillips 10, Ryan Stokes 8, Neyland Jezik 7, Tommy Robertson 7
Marshall County: FG 33/61, 3PT 6/15, FT 12/13, REB 28
Ballard (7-4): Sam Frazier 18, Nick Hayden 14, Nate Richardson 13, Blake Russell 10, Jaden Culver 9, Baron Clay 9, Caleb Miller 2
