It was a rebuilding year for the Marshfield boys basketball team a season ago. The ultra-young Blue Jays dropped from 15 wins to just two thanks in part to navigating their first season in the Ozark Mountain conference where five of the other six teams had winning records. That included Logan-Rogersville, who went to the Final Four.
So they brought in a Cannon.
“He was on track to probably be the all-time leading scorer in Aurora basketball history,” Said Adam Thornhill, Cannon’s dad and head coach at Marshfield. “And was 100% on board with coming here and helping us build this program in our first year here.”
As in Cannon Thornhill. The same Cannon Thornhill who tied the Blue & Gold record for most three-pointers in a game when he hit nine to lead Aurora to their first ever opening round win since 2015. “It was an amazing experience,” said Cannon, a senior at Marshfield. “Something I’ll remember the rest of my life. It was awesome. Blue and Gold is my favorite time of year.”
So might he do something similar in this year’s tournament? “We’re going to see,” Cannon said, with a laugh. “We’re going to see. No promises.”
It may be tougher to pull it off this year. As a senior on this team, his dad isn’t asking Cannon to fire away. “He’s got to do a lot of other things for us this year that’s really a lot more important than just scoring.” Adam said. “Cannon’s a leader for us. He averages about six assists a game up from the two and a half assists that he averaged last year.”
Cannon credits his teammates for making the transition so seamless. “It’s been awesome,” Cannon said. “I was definitely nervous about it at first. It took a little bit to adjust, but my teammates, all the guys that I have, it’s been so great and welcoming for me.”
It turns out, setting up his teammates helps too. “There’s some guys you really enjoy playing with and some guys who are really good players but not really fun to play with,” Adam said. “I’m proud of Cannon being one of those players that people enjoy playing with.”
And they’re enjoying a resurgence headed into the Blue & Gold tournament.
