Six Marshals were in double-figures led by Bryce Flatt with 24 in the Marshals 87-72 win over Hopkins County Central in the A&K Holiday Classic at Marshall County High School. It was the highest point total for the Marshals since Dec. 6 of the 2016-2017 season when they scored 96 against Carlisle County.
Coach Terry Birdsong, in post game comments to WCBL’s Aaron Clayton said of the scoring, “It’s a fun way to play. We had a good four to five days of practice and changed the way we’re playing.” The one disappointment Birdsong had in the game was how they guarded Hopkins County Central senior Tylan Mann who had 23 first half points on his way to lead the Storm with 33 in the game.
Adrian Stringer put Hopkins County Central on the board first, tied by Matthew Wooten with Flatt giving the Marshals the lead. Mann’s 3-pointer put the Storm up 5-4 which would be their last lead of the game. Leading 11-7, the Marshals finished out the first quarter on an 8-0 run coming from a three by Jay Nimmo, a basket by Tyler Powell and a three from Chase Riley to lead 19-7.
The Marshals lead in the second quarter swung from six points to 15 points, the largest at 34-19 following five straight points from Chase Riley. Hopkins County Central began to chip away at the lead with Mann scoring 14 of their 15 final first half points to trim the Marshals lead at halftime to 40-34.
Nimmo opened the second half with a three and the Marshals lead went back to 12 points on another three by Powell. A better defensive effort by the Marshals on Mann held him to five third quarter points, but Stringer stepped up to fill in, scoring the first six points of the half for the Storm.
Leading by 10, the Marshals got a boost off the bench from Dawson Smothers with two straight baskets to stretch the lead out to 14 points. Flatt finished out the third quarter with seven of the Marshals nine points to hold onto a 10 point lead.
Marshall County out-scored Hopkins County Central 26-21 in the fourth quarter, highlighted by six points each from Flatt, Stokes and Nimmo and four a piece by Powell and Wooten. Stringer kept the Storm in the game with 10 of his 21 points coming in the fourth quarter.
The Marshals will have little time to rest, playing two games on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. against Valley and the final game of the day at 7:30 against Apollo. Valley beat Apollo 54-51 on Friday.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Final | |
| Hopkins Co. Central | 7 | 34 | 51 | 72 |
| Marshall County | 19 | 40 | 61 | 87 |
Marshall: Flatt 24, Powell 16, Nimmo 13, Wooten 10, Stokes 10, C. Riley 10, Smothers 4
Hopkins: Mann 33, Stringer 21, Moore 8, Putty 4, Bergant 2, Winn 2, Almon 2
