DRAFFENVILLE – The boys took the floor first in the Marshall County 4th district double-header at home against Murray High and from the opening tip, the Marshals took control of the game and never let up, beating Murray 67-35, their first win over the Tigers since February 25, 2014.
Will Lovins put Murray on the board first, tied on a field goal by Skyler Smith, and the Marshals were off and running, leading 17-7 at the end of the first quarter with points coming from Dylan Walters with four, Aaron Reed two and Houston Harvey, Tristen Prange and Tyler Stokes all hit 3-pointers.
In the second quarter, Matt French scored his first points of the game to put the Marshals up 20-7. This would be just the beginning of French’s big night who went on to led the team with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Murray put an end to the Marshals 12-0 run on a free throw by Preston English, who scored nine of the Tigers 11 second quarter points. The Marshals led 32-18 at halftime.
Up by 20 points at the midway point in the third quarter, the Marshals scored 15 points in four minutes, led by French and Stokes with five a piece, three from Harvey and a field goal by Walters to go up 55-28. Zach Flener and Noah Merriss both hit threes for Murray in the quarter and English added two free throws to end the quarter.
French couldn’t miss in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of the Marshals 14 on their way to a 32-point win, their largest margin of victory over Murray since December 2011.
The Marshals (5-1) will play Daviess County (3-3) Saturday at 4:45 in the Murray Bank Christmas Classic.
SCORING
Murray: English 17, Flener 6, Lovins 4, Merriss 3, Hilbrecht 2, Speed 2, Wilson 1
Marshall: French 24, Walters 13, Harvey 10, Stokes 7, Reed 6, Smith 4, Prange 3
Murray: Field Goals 10/42, 3-pointers 3/20, Free Throws 12/18, Total Rebounds 28, Fouls 19, Assists 4, Turnovers 14
Marshall: Field Goals 27/49, 3-pointers 5/12, Free Throws 8/17, Total Rebounds 36, Fouls 23, Assists 14, Turnovers 9
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Murray | 7 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 35 |
| Marshall | 17 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 67 |
