Three players with 15 points each led the Lady Marshals in Friday’s 59-37 win over district foe Calloway County. Layne Pea was dialed in from three point range, scoring all 15 of her points from beyond the arc, joined by Cayson Conner and Halle Langhi with 15 a piece.
“Layne… she helped us defensively more…I know she made shots but I think that’s because she was working so hard defensively that she didn’t think about her shooting as much”, Head Coach Aaron Beth said.
Sunny Clark opened the game with a three and a basket from eighth grader Skylar Waller put the Lady Lakers up 5-2 early. Baskets from Langhi and a three by Jezik gave the Lady Marshals their first lead at 7-5 but it swung back to Calloway County on a three point shot by another eighth grader, Madison Futrell.
Marshall County led 12-10 heading into the second quarter, getting a three from Conner to open the scoring, Futrell countered with a three for Calloway followed by Pea’s first of her five threes in the game and the Lady Marshals lead was five at 18-13. They out-scored Calloway 7-2 from there to finish out the half on a 10-point lead.
The lead was 13 points at the end of the third quarter, highlighted by two straight baskets from Conner going end to end to lay in the first and following that up with a three that put the Lady Marshals up 35-21. The quarter ended on a steal by Pea and her third three of the game beat the buzzer for a 40-27 lead.
“We had a distinct size advantage”, Beth said. “I felt like we really utilized that more in the second half. Halle got a lot of good blocks and Sophie came in and got several offensive rebounds that really helped us.”
That size came into play in the fourth quarter when the Lady Marshals put up 19 points while holding the Lady Lakers to 10.
“I feel like I can go eight or nine deep and it’s just hard to figure out the rotation yet”, Beth said. “I’m still working on who I need to play when, depending on the situation. Did a little offensive-defensive substitution there with Gabbi (Lovett) and Sophie (Galloway). That brings a lot of defensive intensity and toughness off the bench to add a little different look.”
Beth didn’t think they came out and played their best but added, “We still had a significant pretty solid win on somebody else’s home court in the district.”
Improving to 3-1, the Lady Marshals will play their first home game on Saturday against McCracken County. The Lady Mustangs come into the game 3-2 with wins over McLean County, Paducah Tilghman and Friday’s 58-45 win over Webster County.
Marshall 12 13 15 19 – 59
Calloway 10 5 12 10 – 37
Marshall: Pea 15, Conner 15, Langhi 15, Jezik 5, Galloway 4, Teague 3, Henson 2
Calloway: Waller 13, Futrell 8, Schumacher 6, Carson 5, Clark 5
