Marion County Upsets Tigers In First Round
Marion County Upsets Tigers In First Round
By David Sharp
Marion County grabbed a 26-14 halftime lead and held off a fourth quarter Tiger rally, and handed third seeded Brashear (9-3) a 51-47 first round North Shelby Tournament loss. The Tigers had a strong second half, outscoring the Mustangs (4-6) 33-25 in the final two periods.
Brashear beat Marion County soundly in an early season home contest. The Mustangs are a more confident club with leading scorer Nathan Meyers in the lineup. Meyers sank two second half three pointers, and led all scorers with 19 Marion County points.
The Tigers closed within a 35-30 point margin after three periods of play. “We took them out of their comfort zone in the first half,” said Mustang coach Ryan Wood. “Our defense made them make mistakes. They are really improved over last year. They made a run at us, but we made our free throws down the stretch.”
Brashear turnovers were critical to the final outcome. “We threw the ball away too many times,” said Brashear coach Sara Williams. “We had a 14 point deficit at halftime.”
“We fought back within four points, but we had too many turnovers that cost us too many possessions,” said Coach Williams.
Marion County sank 12 of 16 free throws on the night for 75%. Dakota Bainter scored 15 Mustang points. The Tigers scored 22 field goals to 15 for the Mustangs. Much of the scoring difference came at the free throw line.
Brashear was able to convert on three of ten free throw attempts during the contest. The Tigers cracked off a 16-9 third quarter run. Brashear outscored Marion County 17-16 in the fourth quarter, but the first half Marion County run was too much to overcome.
Ryan Ferdig came off the bench and led Brashear in scoring with 16 points. Kale Watson scored 13 BHS points. Trae Treasure was the third Tiger in double figures with 11 points. Justin Hazen scored four points. Kiley Watson scored two and Matt Thomas added three points.
Sixth seeded Marion County pulled off their second upset of the tournament when they handed Knox County a 47-44 loss in the semi finals.
