Thursday in their first-round game of the Mercy Health First Region Tournament, the Marshall County Marshals defeated Fulton County 84-42 to advance to the semifinals on Saturday. They will play Paducah Tilghman at 2:30 at the CFSB Center. The Blue Tornado beat Mayfield 61-57 in overtime to keep their season alive.
All 13 players on the Marshals roster scored in the win led by Alex Staples with 21 points, 19 of which came in the first half.
Staples opened up the scoring with a three-pointer and the Marshals were off and running from there. Staples led the first quarter scoring with 11 points, Logan Parker had six, Kaden Mohler three points and Orrin Phelps with two to build a 22-8 lead.
Eight different players scored in their 24-point second quarter led by Staples with eight to push the halftime lead to 46-21. Tristan Kinney led Fulton County in the half with nine points and finished the night with 13 to lead the Comets scoring.
The Marshals out-scored the Pilots 36-21 in the second half. They took their largest lead of 43 points in the fourth quarter on their way to the 41-point victory.
Before Marshall County and Paducah Tilghman take the floor on Saturday, McCracken County and Murray will play in the 1:00 semifinal.
Marshall 22 24 22 14 – 84
Fulton 8 13 12 9 – 42
Marshall (23-7): Alex Staples 21, Matthew Langhi 12, Cash Henson 10, Tommy Robertson 8, Logan Parker 6, Kaden Mohler 6, Neyland Jezik 5, Orrin Phelps 4, Ryan Stokes 2, Kyzer Phillips 2, Isaac Darnall 2, Kannon Dunn 2, JT Hall 2
Marshall: FG 36/59, 3PT 7/19 (Staples 2, Langhi 2), FT 3/6, Reb 29 (Phelps 7), Assts 17
Fulton (6-23): Tristan Kinney 13, Zayden Kinney 11, Davarius Freeman 11, Christian Smith 3, Jadairain Smith 2, Zyian Frame 2
Fulton: FG 17/39, 3PT 5/14, FT 2/4, Reb 11
Player of the Game: Alex Staples
