The Marshall Statesmen and Wakefield Warriors on Monday (Jan. 13) played another of their low-scoring, physical boys basketball games that sometimes resemble a hard-checking NHL-playoff match.
Host Wakefield won the Liberty District seesaw high-school contest, 35-34, when Marshall’s Osteen Fraser failed to sink a baseline jump shot at the buzzer.
“I’m not sure why we won, but we set the stage early and did enough with our physical play and we figured it out. Then we survived Marshall runs like we knew were coming,” Wakefield coach Tony Bentley told ARLnow.
“Games like that are what you get between Marshall and Wakefield,” he said. “The referees let them play a bit.”
Both teams shot poorly from the floor (Wakefield 29% and Marshall 33%) and had challenges scoring from the outset.
Wakefield led just 6-4 at the end of the first quarter and 17-10 at halftime. The Warriors were ahead 28-26 after three periods and led 35-30 with 4:59 left.
Marshall scored to cut the lead to 35-34 with 3:25 to play, and neither team scored again.
“I think they took it to us physically at the start, but then we responded well to that and showed fight,” Marshall coach Jerry Lin told ARLnow. “But we just didn’t shoot well enough. We were 2 of 14 on three-pointers and 4 of 9 on free throws. You can’t do both of those and still win.”
Wakefield took the lead for good at 32-30 on a running 10-foot bank-shot in the lane by Jeremiah Poole with 5:55 to play. The lead increased to 35-30 on a three-pointer by Antonio Posey.
Two baskets by Marshall’s Trey Lonardo (nine points, four rebounds) cut the lead to 35-34 and ended the scoring.
Senior center Kooper Odar led Wakefield in scoring with eight points, plus 10 rebounds. Isiah Ledbetter had six points off the bench, Gabe Henneman scored four and had seven rebounds, Posey and Dyson Beaty scored five each, Keyon Tiggle four, Poole had three points and three steals, and Shane Morrison four rebounds and two assists.
Wakefield defeated Marshall 38-32 the previous time the teams met, with Marshall winning 48-32 the preceding contest.
