— Caitlin Wardlow/Tribune-Courier

(Above) Marshall County’s Matt Fletcher attempts a layup against Calloway County’s Jordan Bumpus during the Marshals’ win Friday.

One more win clinches top seed

MCHS still unbeaten
in 4th District after
win over Calloway County

By Justin McGill
Tribune-Courier Managing Editor
jmcgill@tribunecourier.com

DRAFFENVILLE – A struggling Calloway County team entered Reed Conder Gymnasium on Friday looking to spoil Marshall County’s unblemished 4th District record.

“I knew they’d play well tonight,” MCHS head coach Gus Gillespie said of the Lakers. “They had dropped a couple in a row, so we knew they’d be prepared.”

The lead changed hands six times in the first half, but the second half belonged to the Marshals in a 53-39 victory.

“I was disappointed with the energy and emotion we played with in the first half because of how big a district game this is,” Gillespie said. “In the second half, we played a lot better defensively and got some transition points from that.”

Neither team could string together a run of more than two consecutive baskets until MCHS hit a 9-0 stride in the third quarter that gave the Marshals their first double-digit lead of the game at 36-26. Calloway twice trimmed the gap back to eight points, but MCHS led by more than 10 for most of the fourth quarter and by as many as 16 at one point.

With a few players suffering from a flu bug, Denver Seay provided the Marshals with a steady performance in the post, scoring a game-high 18 points.

“He had a monster game for us,” Gillespie said of Seay. “One of our weaknesses right now is that we’ve got to score in the post with our back to the basket, and we can do it. Teams are aware we can shoot and drive, but they’ve got to prepare for us posting up.”

Troublesome for MCHS was its ineptitude at the free throw line, where the Marshals went 9-for-21. Compounding that worry was leading foul shooter Travis Spiceland’s line of 1-for-5 at the charity stripe.

“I don’t know if Travis has missed four in a game in his whole career before now,” Gillespie said. “He’s one of the best in the state, especially under pressure, so that’s odd for him. The rest of the guys have got to be able to step up and knock those free throws down. For a varsity team, 9-for-21 is inexcusable.”

Now 5-0 in district play, MCHS needs either a win Feb. 8 at Murray or a Calloway win Feb. 1 against the Tigers to clinch the top seed in the district tournament.

“That will be a very tough game for us,” Gillespie said of the future meeting at Murray. “Now, we can sit back and watch Murray and Calloway battle it out, but it’s nice to be in control.”

With his son Gunner currently finished with treatments for a brain tumor, Gillespie has returned to coaching full-time, for games and practices.

“I’ve coached the last couple of weeks, but I hadn’t been to practice, so finally getting back to that felt good,” Gillespie said. “I’ll be around every day now. It’s tough on everyone when I just show up on weekends to coach games, but now there will be a lot more stability.”

Gillespie said he is happy with the job his coaching staff – associate coach Ron Winemiller and assistants Brent Lovett and Vince Doom – and his players did in his absence.

“We’re together so much during the spring and summer that it’s not that much of a transition,” Gillespie said. “No. 1, our coaches do a great job. No. 2, I believe in what we do from an offensive and defensive standpoint. No. 3, I believe in the kids. I’m not surprised at all at how we’re doing.”

Up next for the Marshals is their third game of the season against Paducah Tilghman. MCHS and the Blue Tornado split the first two. The varsity game is set for a 7:30 p.m. start Friday in Paducah.

Marshall County 53,
Calloway County 39
Friday @ Draffenville

Marshall County 8 18 13 14
Calloway County 8 16 7 8

TEAM STATS
Shooting
Overall: MC 45.5% (20/44)
CC 31.6% (12/38)
3-pointers: MC 28.6% (4/14) CC 30% (3/10)
Free throws: MC 42.9% (9/21)
CC 57.1% (12/21)

Turnovers MC 10
CC 17
Rebounds: MC 31 (Dowdy 6)
CC 30 (Garner 10)
Assists: MC 13 (McKenty 4)
CC 5 (Lilly 2)
Blocks: MC 0
CC 2
Steals: MC 9 (Holland 3)
CC 7 (Lilly 4)
Fouls: MC 19
CC 20
Fouled out: MC - none
CC - none

INDIVIDUAL STATS
MC: Dowdy 2-4 1-3 5; Spiceland 2-10 (0-5) 1-5 5; Barga 1-3 (1-1) 2-5 5; McKenty 3-8 1-2 7; Madding 1-3 1-2 3; York 3-6 (3-5) 9; Seay 8-9 2-2 18; Holland 0-1 1-2 1

CC: Dobbins 2-7 4; Simmons 1-3 (1-2) 3; Lilly 4-11 (2-6) 2-3 12; Garner 5-16 2-4 12; Hill 0-0 3-6 3; Willis 0-1 5-8 5