Beginning the game strong, the Bluejas took the lead midway through the first quarter and led 23-12 until Lebanon senior Brock West hit a jumper well behind the 3-point line as time expired in the first to pull his team within single digits.
In the second quarter, scoring didn’t come easy for the Bluejays as their scrappy sophomore Lukas Clift picked up his third foul early on, and the Yellowjackets used it to their advantage and trailed only by four at halftime.
Knowing his team had to improve defensively in the second half, Marshfield Blue Jays Head Coach J.C. Carter gave his team a simple message.
“I told them our defensive intensity had to pick way up,” said Carter. “This is such a great group of guys, but we need to play with more of an edge. Sometimes it seems like we are just going through the motions, especially in the first half, but we played much faster in the second half.”
The Bluejays did just as their coach told them as they forced eight second half turnovers and led the Yellowjackets by 10 points by the end of the third quarter. Lebanon would not get closer the rest of the night.
In the end, Coach Carter couldn’t be more thrilled with the way his team played
“Bradey Welsh coming in and giving us 18 off the bench was phenomenal,” said Carter. "Kerrick [Wright] came in averaging seven points and he gave us 24, which was a big help. Ultimately, though, it was a team win.”
Because of the effort the Bluejays showed against Lebanon, Coach Carter knows his team has the chance to be special.
“This is a really unselfish team,” said Carter. “We played ten guys and seven of them scored for us. Keeping everyone involved is tough for other teams to scout. It is such a fun team to coach.”
Senior guard Brock West and post player Christian Klutts led the scoring for Lebanon with 14 points each.
In the junior varsity game, the Bluejays defeated the Yellowjackets, 65-64.
Next up for Marshfield is the Strafford Indians on Saturday, Dec. 8 at Strafford. Lebanon hosts the Willard Tigers on Friday, Dec. 7.
Lebanon 15-12-14-21---62
Marshfield 23-8-24-19---74
Kerrick Wright 24, Bradey Welsh 18, Blayne Armstrong 10, Brett Diehl 9, Logan McAnarney 5, Mathew Clancy 3, Lukas Clift 3,
Lebanon
Brock West 14, Christian Klutts 14, Tyler Merriott 11, Jeffery Plake 7, Isaac Gillen 5, Chad Howerton 5, J.T. Dorris 4
E-Mail
Print
