MURRAY – Not the ending they hoped for but the Marshall County boys basketball team can be proud of their semi-final appearance after a season of COVID quarantines, two 11 day spans without a game and 10 games into the season had just three in the win column.
All that aside, it was McCracken County’s night on Friday, handing the Marshals a 58-29 loss in the Region 1 semi. The game a rematch of last year’s title game the Mustangs won 43-42.
“They showed up everyday and they went to work and they got to this game”, Coach Terry Birdsong said after his team came up one game short of the championship. “You know there was a point where we were 3-7 and we won eight of our final 10 games.”
Over three minutes in and neither team could find the net. Quinn Smith snatched the rebound off a missed 3-pointer and put it back up and in to put the Marshals on the board first. A 3-pointer by Colby Schroader and it was a 5-0 lead before five straight from McCracken’s Ian McCune tied the game up. Cole Sedlock put the Marshals back up and McCune tied it again before Noah Dumas scored to give McCracken their first lead at 9-7 to end the first quarter.
Zion Harmon, who had five points in the first half and the focus of McCracken’s defensive effort, ran into foul trouble picking up his third in the second quarter. The Mustangs dropped in 24 points in part by five baskets from beyond the arc – three from Ian Hart and two from Dumas who hit his second before the buzzer to give them a 34-17 halftime lead.
“We got in a little foul trouble, Zion got his second foul pretty quick then Riley Smith got two fouls, and those are two big parts of our team”, Birdsong said. “You couple that with the fact that we didn’t shoot the ball well, we didn’t pass it well, we just kind of lost our energy there a little bit.”
Held to four points in the third quarter – three from Harmon and a free throw by Riley Smith – the Marshals trailed McCracken 44-21 going into the fourth quarter and the deficit proved too large to overcome.
“You’ve got to give them credit”, Birdsong said. “They’re a good basketball team and we got their A-game tonight and we didn’t have our A-game.”
The Marshals struggled from the floor shooting 23% for the game and were 2-of-15 in 3-point attempts.
Harmon finished with 12 points for the Marshals. McCracken County was led by three in double-figures – Ian McCune with 15, Dumas 14 and Hart 11.
Birdsong said he told the players following the game, you don’t always get what you want and hopes that it’s incentive for the players returning to go to work and get better.
Four seniors played their final game in the orange and blue – Harmon, Brady Miller, Kaden Driver and Carson Ives.
“Proud of our seniors”, Birdsong said. “Zion’s going on to continue playing. Brady and Kaden accepted roles that…you know sometimes to get on the court you’ve got to accept a role…it may not be the role you like but you’ve got to be smart enough to figure out if I’m going to play that’s what I’ve got to do. I thought they embraced it, they’re great kids. Carson Ives…we’re going to miss Carson. Carson didn’t play as much as the other guys but man he showed up every day, had a great attitude and worked his butt off. Really proud of those four guys.”
McCracken County will look to defend their 1st Region title when they meet Murray in Saturday’s championship at 6:00. Murray beat Paducah Tilghman 61-53 in the first semi-final on Friday.
Marshall County 7 10 4 8 – 29
McCracken County 9 24 11 14 – 58
Marshall County: Harmon 12, Sedlock 5, Schroader 3, R. Smith 3, Q. Smith 2, Mills 2, Davis 2
McCracken County: I. McCune 15, Dumas 14, Hart 11, J. McCune 6, Blackwell 4, Brower 4, Bradley 2, Miller 2
Marshall County (12-10): FG 9/23, 3 Pt 2/15 (Sedlock, Schroader), FT 9/13 (Harmon 6/7), REB 27 (Q. Smith 9), AST 3, STL 4, TO 13, FLS 18
McCracken County (21-6): FG 19/27, 3 Pt 6/12 (Hart 3, Dumas 2, I. McCune 1), FT 14/20 (Dumas 4/5), REB 24, AST 6, STL 6, TO 9, FLS 13
