Mustangs overpower Marshals in 47-34 loss

Quinn Smith (22) scored all five of the Marshals first half field goals and finished with a team-leading 12 points in Tuesday’s loss to McCracken County.

McCracken County made their case as the top team in the region with Tuesday’s 47-34 win over Marshall County. The Marshals last win over McCracken County came on Dec. 9, 2016, and the Mustangs now lead the series 18-2 since 2013.

“We just struggled offensively, they had a lot to do with it, but we were our own worst enemy”, Coach Terry Birdsong said in post-game comments. “A lot of self-inflicted wounds tonight.”

Down 8-0, the Marshals first field goal came from senior Quinn Smith and it would be the only points of the first quarter, trailing 16-2. Smith would go on to score all of the Marshals five field goals in the half and they went into the halftime break behind 25-11.

Senior Brant Brower scored all 12 of his points in the first half to lead McCracken County along with junior Ian Hart with 10 first half points. The Mustangs stuffed several of the Marshals attempts in the paint.

Trailing by 17 points in the third quarter, the Marshals got a lift from baskets by Moore, a 3-pointer from Kolby Schroader and free throws by Cole Mills to cut the lead down to 10 but the Mustangs finished out the quarter on a 7-3 run to stretch the lead out to 14.

All four of Cole Sedlock’s points came in the fourth quarter to lead the way in the Marshals 11 points, the only quarter to out-score the Mustangs who had 10 to finish off the win by 13.

“We’ve got to get stronger, we’ve got to continue to lift”, Birdsong said. “Got some guys that don’t like to get in the weight room and it shows in games like this.”

Despite holding the Mustangs to their lowest point total of the season, Birdsong said the team didn’t do a lot of the things they’ve been doing up to this point and added, “We’ve got a chance to get better. I thought we looked a little tired tonight. We didn’t play well tonight and the better team won.”

Marshall          2   9   12   11  –  34
McCracken   16   9   12   10  –  47

Marshall: Smith 12, Moore 7, Mills 6, Schroader 5, Selock 4
McCracken: Hart 16, Brower 12, McCune 9, Purvis 5, Tilford 3, Blackwell 2
Record: Marshall 8-5, McCracken 9-1

Kole Sedlock, who came into Tuesday’s game averaging just above 11 points per game, was held to four against the Mustangs.
Brant Brower (24) blocks the shot of Wade Moore in the first half of Tuesday’s loss. McCracken County held the Marshals to 11 points in the half.