Big Rebound Propels Marion In State Championship Game
You want storylines? This game had them all. Bus accident, delayed game, big comeback, and an exciting finish. Griffith came into the game as the better team but following their bus accident, you really weren’t sure how healthy they would…
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Continue ReadingYou want storylines? This game had them all. Bus accident, delayed game, big comeback, and an exciting finish. Griffith came into the game as the better team but following their bus accident, you really weren’t sure how healthy they would be. For the most part, they looked fine expect you could easily tell that Martin Schiele was playing with a bad knee and didn’t have any speed at all. However, Griffith competed with Marion for every second of the game.
Free throws and turnovers were the underlying issues for both teams. Both Marion and Griffith really struggled to get any consistent scoring from the charity stripe. Had either team been solid, this might have not even been that close at the end. Turnovers really came into play in the final minutes as Griffith and Marion basically traded the back and forth.
It was a sloppy game but also very exciting. In the end it came down to one play that decided the outcome, because, how else could this game end. Reggie Jones drove the lane with about 6 seconds to go but his runner was wide. Marion big man Gage Pinkerton was able to grab it over the top and putback just as time was getting ready to expire.
Player of the Game:
Reggie Jones – 6’5 SG – Senior
This was about as interesting a game as you could get this season and a lot of that is due to the game play. It wasn’t clean and it wasn’t pretty but the way Reggie Jones controlled the game at the end was what put Marion in their position to get a win. He did well handling the ball and getting Marion looks when they made their run back in the fourth quarter.
Top Stat Lines:
Anthony Murphy (Griffith) – 13 points
Tremell Murphy (Griffith) – 20 points, 10 rebounds
Martin Schiele (Griffith) – 10 points
Reggie Jones (Marion) – 12 points
Vijay Blackmon (Marion) – 15 points
Tim Leavell (Marion) – 13 points
Next Up:
Marion (22-7) will face Evansville Bosse for the 3A State Title this Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Griffith finishes the season with a record of 25-4.