Reflections of Stratford win over Marshall County
Marshall County entered Stratford’s gym with hopes of a 7th win, but Stratford dashed those with a 30-17 third quarter run. The Tigers’ two-point deficit ballooned to 15 points entering the fourth quarter. Stratford won 90-82.
“We did have a bad third quarter,” said Marshall County Head Coach Lavon King. “It was one of those things where we couldn’t score and the goal was as big as the ocean for them,” said Marshall County Head Coach Lavon King. “It was one of those things that we had to try to make a few stops in a row and we just didn’t do that.”
The visitors were exposed as a guard-reliant team. Damn, the Marshall County Tigers have two great guards, but the frontcourt depth really looks problematic for Coach King.
One player that exposed the Marshall County front line was Stratford senior forward Kevonte Boyd.
After the game Kevonte Boyd talked about his success.
Caleb Fields (PrepHoopsTN #23) entered the game as the most revered player. The way his personal performance progressed really mirrored the arc of the Marshall County game.
From the tip Caleb Fields was special. As the second quarter wore on he was pretty good and the team was ok. When Stratford figured out how to bottle him up, using basically four defenders, the Tigers struggled to keep pace with Stratford. By the fourth quarter the game was out of hand and Caleb’s contributions were rendered moot.
“They ran the 1-2-2 and whoever was on Kj’s side was on him,” said Caleb Fields after the defeat. “They were basically playing like the other people can’t shoot.”
Had he seen that before?
“The most I have seen is a matchup zone,” said Fields. “That is about it.”
“We fought back and we played hard,” said Caleb Fields. “That is what we always do. We don’t get down on ourselves.”
One game in early December does not define a season, but PrepHoops wondered aloud if Caleb and his teammates learned anything from the contest.
“Just continuing to play,” said Caleb Fields of their strategy when down. “Try to get some stops and box out. We will be good.”
It will be very interesting to see how future teams play Caleb. His quickness really creates problems and he is not alone on Marshall County. Stratford Head Coach Romie Reed made a couple of very interesting adjustments though.