Marshall County’s Lady Marshals and the Lady Eagles of Graves County tipped off Friday evening at 7:30 in the CFSB Region 1 Tournament semifinals. Graves County won the two regular season games over the Lady Marshals by 17 and 18 points, but all bets are off at tournament time and the Lady Marshals stepped up when it counted and delivered a 48-31 loss to the Lady Eagles.
“I’m so proud of them…that’s all them”, Head Coach Jimmie Holders said to WCBL. “The way that they came out, competed, they played their tails off. Defensively they were locked in. I felt like we’ve played them as good as anybody all year on their schedule.”
A great start to the game set the early tone for the Lady Marshals who led 8-0 on two baskets each by Georgia Hall and Chevelle Henson, prompting Graves County Head Coach Lyndon Dunning to call an early time out.
A 14-4 lead to start the second quarter increased on a basket by Hall and the senior would score the next four points to give the Lady Marshals a 20-7 lead. Izzy Washburn dropped in the first of two free throws and on the second miss, Hall snapped up the rebound and put it back up and in and the lead grew to 16 points.
Morgan Alexander hit a 3-pointer for Graves County and it was answered at the other end with one from Madyson Morton to hold the Lady Marshals lead at 16. Alexander scored the final five points of the half to pull the Lady Eagles to within 11 at 26-15 at halftime.
Big defensive efforts on both sides in the third quarter held the scoring down to single digits. Six points for Graves County and five for the Lady Marshals to hold onto a 31-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Alexander scored to cut the Lady Marshals lead to eight points but it was back to 10 on a nice downcourt pass from Chevelle Henson to Hall for the lay in. With a 33-23 lead, the majority of the scoring came at the free throw line to close out the game, the Lady Marshals hitting 12-of-16 and the Lady Eagles 6-of-9. Laken Schroader stepping to the line 12 times and draining eight to help seal the semifinal win.
Coach Holder was happy with the offensive rebounding and felt the team did a great job contesting the Graves County’s shots.
“Every single person we got in made an incredible contribution”, Holder said. “That was a special game.”
Georgia Hall led the Lady Marshals with 17 point which earned her the Most Valuable Player of the Game. Alexander scored 16 points to lead Graves County.
Saturday, the Lady Marshals will appear in their fourth regional tournament title game over the past five years and they will play the McCracken County Lady Mustangs at 7:00 at the CFSB Center. Graves County’s season ends with a record of 25-8.
Marshall County 14 12 5 17 – 48
Graves County 4 11 6 10 – 31
Marshall County: Georgia Hall 17, Chevelle Henson 14, Laken Schroader 9, Mia Teague 4, Madyson Morton 3, Izzy Washburn 1
Graves County: Morgan Alexander 16, Hannah Glisson 6, Conlee Spann 5, Ella Kemp 2, Lillian Hayden 1, Avery Thompson 1
Marshall County: FT 17/24, 3PT (Henson 2, Morton 1)
Graves County: FT 10/14, 3PT (Alexander 2, Spann 1)
