In their home opener Saturday against 1st Region rival McCracken County, the Lady Marshals took care of business on Howard Beth Court in their 63-32 win. Led by Cayson Conner with 18 points, the senior earned accolades from Head Coach Aaron Beth – “Cayson is smart…she’s tough…she ran the floor tonight. She was the leader and she does it without having to say a word. She does it by example.”
A nice early season win over McCracken County – Coach Beth agreed that it was a great win, but one they can’t let go to their heads.
“It’s one game, but we showed that we can be a dominant team, like we can be every night in the 1st Region”, Beth said. “We have a lot of talent this year…tonight I think it was really exposed in a lot of different ways with our shooting to our inside game to our rebounding and our pressure.”
Beth added, “Our full court pressure really bothered them and got us a little run to get us going. Once we got started, we never really slowed down.”
Halle Langhi’s opening basket for the Lady Marshals was followed by a three from McCracken County sophomore Caroline Sivills, the start of a tight first quarter that ended on a three pointer by Marshall County’s Jada Driver for a 15-12 lead.
Marshall County went up by five in the second quarter at 20-15 before a three point play by McCracken’s Grace Henderson drew the Lady Mustangs to within two. A basket by Langhi on an assist from Driver, a three pointer by Driver and four points by Conner put the Lady Marshals up 27-18. They took a 30-18 halftime lead on a basket by Conner and free throw by Sophie Galloway.
The lead stretched to 20 points at the end of the third quarter – Layne Pea, Conner, Langhi and Driver combining for 14 of the Lady Marshals points and a 44-24 lead.
The fourth quarter was highlighted by five points from Pea for a 49-28 lead, a nice pass to Langhi wide open under the goal to go up 51-28, a three pointer by Driver for a 14 point lead, a three by Pea and a nice cross court pass from Mia Teague to Pea who dropped in a final three for the 63-32 win.
“When you allow your defense to create your offense, instead of the other way around, things go a whole lot better”, Coach Beth said. “When you’re getting steals and you’re running fast breaks…you’re going to shoot it better. Every single kid on our team tonight did what they were supposed to do…played their roll…by far the best game we’ve played this year and it sets the tone for the rest of the year.”
Conner led the Lady Marshals scoring with 18 points but her defensive play left an impression.
“Best game maybe she’s played since I’ve been coaching her.”, Beth said. “I don’t know if people realize what she did on defense. Caroline (Sivills) scored six of their first eight or ten points and I said we’re not switching anymore…Cayson you stay on her and don’t let her go left. I know she didn’t end up with a whole lot but that really was a turning point in the game as far as stopping what they wanted to do offensively.”
The first home game played at Reed Conder Gymnasium this season with COVID-19 precautions in place was a welcome feeling for the players to which Beth said, “It felt more like a basketball atmosphere even when I walked in for the JV game at 3:15. It finally felt like it was back to basketball season. I hope as the year goes on…and starting Monday we get to let some students in and a 100 more outside people that weren’t here tonight…that will be even better.”
Beth added that he hopes as the year goes on, by the time tournament time gets here, maybe more fans will be in the gym.
“This team’s special”, Beth said. “I want a lot of people to be able to watch them. People are following…I appreciate that. I hope they get a chance to see them play because it’s special. I love this team and I love coaching them.”
McCracken 12 6 6 8 – 32
Marshall 15 15 14 19 – 63
McCracken: Sivills 12, Daye 8, Buchanan 7, Benton 5
Marshall: Conner 18, Langhi 17, Pea 13, Driver 9, Jezik 3, Galloway 3
