By Emily Norris (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It was a great week for Spokane coach Terry Writer. On Monday he picked up his 800th career victory and on Saturday, career win No. 802 gave the Owls the Marionville Tournament championship.
But, after averaging 81 points per game in the first two games of the tournament, it was the defense of Spokane that made the difference.
Marionville turned an 11-10 first quarter advantage into a 29-28 halftime lead, prompting Spokane to continue to condense its zone defense.
The Comets scored just seven third-quarter points, allowing Spokane to grab a 41-36 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Marionville had averaged 71 points per game in its first two games of the tournament.
“Our zone defense forced them to shoot outside and that helped as well,” said Writer. “Everybody is going to get better and hopefully we will too.”
The fourth quarter was a scoring explosion, with the two teams scoring 41 points combined. However, most of it came from the foul line.
After having lopsided games early, Saturday was a great chance for both teams to get a quality game against a team they could very well see in the playoffs.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Rob Guerin’s Marionville Comets, who still have pockets of inexperience, will grow from a tough loss on Saturday that saw them surrender an early lead.
“Down late we did not make the decisions we needed too and turned the ball over too many times late in the ball game, had a few defensive break downs later in the game,” said Guerin. “Just a few things we need to clean up and make a little bit better.”
Spokane, which lost its two top scorers from last year, continues to impress under Hall of Fame coach Writer.
On Saturday he was impressed with his team’s resiliency.
“We hit some free throws late and built a little cushion because we were in foul trouble most of the night with our bigs and hit some big shots.” said Writer.
Sam Shuman and Jaden McCoy, who were both named to the All-Tournament Team, led the way with 16 and 14 points respectively. Jordan Williams and Lake High led Marionville by combining for 32 points.
Spokane 62, Marionville 56
Marionville 11-18-7-20 — 56
Spokane 10-18-13-21 — 62
Marionville Individual Scoring: Jordan Williams 18, Lake High 14, Wil Carlton 12, Blane Young 6, Jacksen Smith 2,
Adam Phillips 2.
Spokane Individual Scoring: Sam Shuman 16, Jaden McCoy 14, Grant Stewart 11, Daniel Newell 7, JD Tate 6, Daniel Newell 4, Jacob Wiggins 4.
