Marshall County defeated Paducah Tilghman 77-67 Friday at Otis Dining Gymnasium and remain unbeaten at 14-0. It’s the best start for a Marshall County boys’ team in 44 years going back to the 1980-1981 team that went 19-0.
It was also a great night for senior Alex Staples who led the Marshals with a season-high 30 points and in the third quarter, became the newest member of the 1,000 point club.
After a bit of a slow start, trailing Paducah Tilghman 12-4, the Marshals recovered quickly and went on an 8-0 run to knot the game up at 12. They took their first lead of the game at 16-14 on a basket by Kaden Mohler and would never relinquish it despite a battle put up by the Blue Tornado. Staples, who scored 11 in the quarter, closed it out with the final two baskets for a 20-16 lead.
The Marshals pushed the lead out to 11 points at 29-18 on six points from Matthew Langhi and a Kyzer Phillips three-pointer to start the second quarter. Paducah Tilghman kept coming, closing the gap down to two points at 33-31 after a three-point play from Owen Mikel and again at 36-34 on a basket by Miles Woodfork, but the Marshals closed out the quarter with the final four points once again to lead 40-34 at halftime.
Staples scored 20 points in the first half and with his eight-point third quarter, surpassed the 1,000 career point mark. The Marshals outscored them by four to take a 54-44 lead into the fourth quarter despite a nine-point effort by Ahmad Wilkins for the Blue Tornado.
Their fast-paced play and scoring in transition began to wear on the Tilghman team and the Marshals were finally able to distance themselves to take their largest lead of 14 points at 71-57 with just under two minutes to go on their way to win by 10.
It was another good night at the free throw line for the Marshals hitting 11-of-12 while Tilghman was 11-of-21 at the stripe. Five threes in the game came from Staples and Phillips with two each and one from Neyland Jezik.
Next up, the Marshals will cross Hwy. 68 to play a district game against Christian Fellowship on Tuesday.
Marshall County 20 40 59 77
Paducah Tilghman 16 34 49 67
Marshall County (14-0): Alex Staples 30, Matthew Langhi 16, Kyzer Phillips 8, Tommy Robertson 8, Ryan Stokes 6, Kaden Mohler 6, Neyland Jezik 3
Paducah Tilghman (6-4): Ahmad Wilkins 17, Owen Mikel 16, Miles Woodfork 15, Aiden Forthman 3, Avery Thompson 2, Antwon McClure 2, Jemarion Purdiman 2
Marshals vs. Paducah Tilghman
