Almost two months have passed since Marshall County and Murray met in their first of two district games this season. The Lady Marshals won that first game 43-21 but it would take a much bigger effort on Tuesday to beat the much-improved Lady Tigers team.
The Lady Marshals rose to the occasion and beat Murray 49-45 to lock up the number one seed in the 4th District Tournament.
“District games on the road are never easy”, Head Coach Jimmie Holder said. “This is what I expected. They caused so many problems with their size. I thought that our girls continued to play hard. They persevered. I thought it was the most physical game that we have been in all year.”
The game was tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Marshals getting three three-pointers from Madyson Morton, Mia Teague and Amelia Boone while Alyssa Daughrity scored six for the Lady Tigers.
Boone finished the first quarter on a three-pointer then opened the second quarter scoring with another three to put the Lady Marshals up by three and it was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish until late in the game when Murray tied it up again. Outscoring Murray 18-9 in the quarter, the Lady Marshals took a 29-20 lead at halftime.
Laken Schroader opened the second half with a three-pointer and the Lady Marshals lead was 12 but the Lady Tigers cut it to seven at 35-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
An 8-0 run that began with the final basket of the third quarter pulled the Lady Tigers to within one point at 35-34. A free throw from Schroader ended the run, then she drew a foul and hit both at the line for a four point lead. Two straight baskets from Daughrity tied the game up at 38 with 2:55 left in the game before a big three-pointer from Mia Teague put them back up by three.
The Lady Marshals closed the game out in the final two minutes at the free throw line making 8-of-10 with Schroader hitting five of her six attempts.
With the win locking up the regular season district title, Holder said you can’t take those things for granted.
“It doesn’t matter what name is on the front of your jersey”, Holder said. “You get a different team every single year so for our girls to be together to get to that 5-0 mark with an opportunity on Friday to go 6-0 in the regular season in the district, what an accomplishment that would be for this group of girls.”
Year in and year out, the 4th District is always the toughest and Holder said it’s going to be a dog fight no matter who they play in the first round.
“All we can do is continue to play with that grit and that perseverance”, Holder said.
Marshall County 11 18 6 14 – 49
Murray 11 9 8 17 – 45
Marshall County (13-13): Laken Schroader 13, Chevelle Henson 12, Mia Teague 8, Madyson Morton 7, Amelia Boone 6, Harli English 3
Murray (8-14): Alyssa Daughrity 20, Kendyll English 13, Mylee Smith 6, Reese Downey 2, Madeline Howell 2, Kaydence Kindle 2
Marshall County: FT 14/23, 3PT 7 (Boone 2, Teague 2, Schroader, Morton, English)
Murray: FT 11/20, 3PT 2 (Mylee Smith 2)
