PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL – Playing for the seventh year in the 11th Annual Marlin Christmas Classic at Arnold High School in Panama City, Florida, the Marshals tipped off in their first game of the Classic against the 10-1 Eagles from Independence High School in Thomson’s Station, TN.
Baskets by Matthew French and Dylan Walters put the Marshals in the lead early against Independence before the Eagles went on a 6-0 run to go up 6-4. A rebound and basket by Skyler Smith on a missed Marshal free throw tied the game at 6-6 with the Marshals keeping the Eagles close the rest of the quarter that ended with two 3-pointers by D.J. Pigg to trail 22-18.
The Eagles scored the first four points of the second quarter to lead 26-18, going on to out-score the Marshals 11-1 to lead 33-21 and taking a 37-26 lead at halftime.
Walter scored as the second half got underway to pull the Marshals to within nine points, but from that point on it was all Independence who out-scored the Marshals 47-25 in the half. The Eagles were 69.2% in field goal percentage and 24 of their points came from Grayson Murphy.
Turnovers were a factor in the game, with the Marshals turning the ball over 27 times which resulted in 32 points for the Eagles.
Marshals Head Coach Gus Gillespie said in post-game comments that his players panicked against the pressure against a very good basketball team saying, “we were just wide-eyed and crazy and things just went from bad to worse.”
Gillespie went on to say he wasn’t as disappointed in the loss as he was in his team’s play and they will move on and hopefully play better on Wednesday when they take on Bartram Trail, FL at 10:15 am in the Consolation Bracket.
Walters led with 18 points, the only Marshal in double-figures.
Independence will move on to play Breckenridge, Ky., a 58-41 winner over Bartram Trail.
SCORING
Independence: G Murphy 24, Walker 15, Watkins 10, Miller 8, Holdheide 8, Daugherty 7, P Murphy 6, Sledd 3, Kastelic 2, Barr 1
Marshall: Walters 18, Pigg 8, Reed 6, Thurman 6, Smith 5, French 5, Morgan 2, Riley 8
Independence: Field Goals 36/52, 3-pointers 2/8, Free Throws 10/22, Rebounds 26, Fouls 25, Assists 10, Turnovers 14, Steals 17
Marshall: Field Goals 16/41, 3-pointers 2/10, Free Throws 17/28, Rebounds 30, Fouls 19, Assists 4, Turnovers 27
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Independence | 22 | 15 | 26 | 21 | 84 |
| Marshall | 18 | 8 | 16 | 9 | 51 |
