By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A big run in the first half put the Comets in control, and three-point shooting kept them there.
Top-seeded Marionville used a 20-3 run and nine made 3-pointers to overcome second seed College Heights 52-38 on Friday night in the Class 2 District 12 basketball championship game at Verona.
The Comets, who last won a district in 2019, will face Crane at 6 p.m. Monday in the sectional round at Carthage while riding a 16-game win streak.
“They’ve been playing hard all season and they play really well together,” Marionville coach Rob Guerin said. “The seniors have all been with me since they were freshmen and we’ve been slowly growing and getting better and it finally paid off for them this year.”
Marionville (26-2) benefitted from two huge halves from senior Wil Carlton and junior Gage Guerin.
Carlton scored 10 points in the first quarter and 16 in the first half and Guerin added 15 points on five 3-pointers in the second. Both scoring bursts came at key points in the game.
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Carlton made a 3-pointer and then converted a three-point play to tie the game at 10 after College Heights (23-6) had opened with a 10-4 lead. The baskets sparked a 13-0 run – part of the larger 20-3 burst – and Marionville led 17-10 after senior Blane Young converted a four-point play and Guerin made the first of his six three’s.
Carlton scored the first two baskets of the second quarter and Marionville led 24-13 following another triple from Young. The Comets led by eight at the half.
Marionville led 29-18 midway through the third, but College Heights went on a quick 8-2 run to pull within four. The Comets answered with a driving layup from Carlton and a three from Guerin to make it 36-27 going into the fourth.
Again the Cougars made a run, and they got to within 37-33 on a layup by sophomore Logan Decker with 5:12 remaining.
Again the Comets answered, with Guerin sinking three 3-pointers in a minute-and-a-half to make it a 49-36 game.
Marionville finished the game on a 15-5 run.
“This team, they have a really high basketball IQ,” Rob Guerin said. “They know where their shots are and they can feel that sense of urgency coming and they knew it was getting close so they had to do something. That’s when they work even harder defensively and look to score whenever their opportunity arises.”
The Comet defense managed to take College Heights’ scorers out of the game, too. Curtis Davenport, a 6-foot-5 senior, scored eight points in the first quarter and then found himself double teamed; he finished with 1.
No other Cougar scored more than seven. They were plagued by foul trouble, too. Junior Caleb Quade picked up his fourth foul just a minute into the second half.
Marionville took advantage of the free throw opportunities, as well. The Comets made 9-of-11 attempts in the game, including 5 of 7 in the fourth quarter. College Heights only took four free throws in the second half.
“We knew we had to avoid foul trouble and keep our scorers on the floor – it didn’t happen,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “I’m proud of our kids. We got down and came back, then got down and came back again. Kept fighting. A good team like that, they’re very well disciplined and had some open shots where they did a good job moving the ball and we couldn’t cover everybody.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted to play, taking the ball to the basket and being aggressive to the basket,” he said. “We settled for too many outside shots and we weren’t hitting them. We had a great year, though. Losing four very good seniors last year and bring one starter back and go 23-6. I think it says a lot for us.”
College Heights was seeking its third straight district championship.
Only three players scored for Marionville: Carlton had 21, Guerin scored 18 and Young added 13.
Davenport had 11 for the Cougars, senior Ben Thomas scored seven, and Decker, junior Colsen Dickens and Quade each had six.
