03-13-09
BY JACK BULLOCK
PEORIA - Head coach Joe Hosman has finally got his trophy.

He is now hoping that it is the biggest one of them all.

The Massac County Patriots will be playing for the Class 2A state title on Saturday night because of a defensive effort that force previously unbeaten Marshall into its worst shooting night of the season.

Massac swarmed the Lions forcing head coach Tom Brannan's team into a 15-of-55 overall result as the Lions fell into the third place game on Saturday evening following a 60-43 loss.

Marshall (31-1) came into the game shooting 53 percent from the field for the season but slumped to 27.3 in a contest in which they had just a single player – Taylor Duncan with 18 – with double-figures.

High scoring twin guards Logan (17.3 p.p.g.) and Lucas Eitel (15.0 p.p.g.) were held to a combined 13-points.

On the contrary – Massac County placed four players in double-figures led by 15-points from reserve and long range specialist Dustin Korte and 13-points from Byron Bailey who hit 9-14 free throws.

Zach Kester and Jarelle Johnson added 11-points each in the semifinal.

The Patriots out manned Marshall on the boards 40-26 and forced a 2-of-18 shooting showing from behind the 3-point arc.

Coach Hosman's club grabbed the lead in the early going and didn't take the foot off of the pedal in crushing the cold shooting Lions.

“The biggest thing was that we played tremendous defensively. They (Marshall) had three scorers that averaged close to 20-points a game and we stopped the two twins (Eitel's) and they did not get any easy looks,” said Coach Hosman who will play for his first state title in his second trip to the state finals. “Defensively we probably gave them more pressure than they have seen all year long.”

Not only did the Patriots hold the Marshall squad to a low shooting percentage – MC shot the ball pretty well themselves. Massac finished 19-41 overall (46.3 percent) in the win.

The Patriots sprinted out to a 16-8 first quarter lead and never looked back.

Marshall only got as close as eight points one time in the second half in losing their first game of the season.

After Duncan opened the game with a drive to the basket for a 2-0 Marshall lead – the Patriots went on a 7-0 run with Johnson and Bailey scoring the points.

A 3-pointer from Johnson followed by Bailey with a drive and a pair of free throws on two different offensive trips made it 7-2 with 4:46 gone in the opening stanza.

Marshall hit just 2-of-16 first quarter shots.

“We had a lot of good looks but we just didn't make shots,” said a disappointed Coach Brannan. “That (poor shooting night) was something that we had stayed away from all year long. We have been a real good shooting team. But we said that would be our worst nightmare when we would start missing shots. You can't fault anybody. The basketball Gods weren't looking at us tonight.”

Reserve freshman guard Jacob Duncan canned a 3-pointer from the right corner to open the second quarter for the Lions but that was one of the few first half highlights for Marshall.

His trey cut the lead to 16-11 but a blink of an eye later and it was 28-11.

A 12-0 run put the game in a different perspective and Marshall had its biggest deficit of the season starring at them at 32-17 at intermission.

Zach Kester and James Lang scored on baseline shots courtesy of assists from Johnson who ran the show for the Pats.

“James Lang and Zach Kester hit their open looks on the baseline in the first half,” Hosman explained. “We did a great job of sharing the basketball. This was just a great team win.”

The Patriots did the second quarter damage with Bailey sitting on the bench with two personal fouls.

“We didn't have one of the best players in the state in Byron Bailey for a quarter in the first half and then I get a silly technical foul disagreeing with a call which put my team in jeopardy which I shouldn't have,” added Hosman. “That happens if you are a competitor, I guess.”

Marshall's lone offensive run came at the beginning of the third quarter when Hosman got his technical and added to the Lions point total.

Duncan scored twice in the run on lay ins and a rebound bucket by Dustin Morey cut the lead down to just 33-25 at the 5:12 mark.

But the Patriots held their ground and finished off the third quarter with Bailey hitting 5-of-7 free throws and Dustin Korte – fresh off of finishing second in the state 3-point competition before the game – canned a trifecta from the left corner.

Massac led 42-32 heading to the final quarter and Korte struck again from long range to open the fourth.

Back-to-back conventional three-point plays put the game out of reach for Marshall and both Johnson and Kester scored while being fouled.

Spreading the offense Massac converted on drives to the basket and when Johnson hit his free throw – Coach Hosman's squad led 53-34.

Marshall missed 10 shots in the fourth quarter and Massac grabbed nine rebounds.

Corey Ayala finished with just four points for Massac County but he dished out five assists and led the Pats with 10 rebounds.

Mashall will try and put things back together for a game with Winnebago on Saturday night.

The Indians were 83-58 losers to Seton Academy in the first semifinal game.

“We have to get it together and re-group and play for pride tomorrow,” finalized Coach Brannan. “These guys (Massac County) are good. I was really impressed by them. They can handle the ball and they are athletic.”

Marshall (43) – Lo. Eitel 2 0 5-7 9, Brashear 0 0 0-0 0, Lu. Eitel 2 0 0-0 4, T. Duncan 6 0 6-6 18, Morey 1 0 0-0 2, Delp 0 0 0-0 0, J. Duncan 0 1 0-0 3, Wetnight 0 1 0-0 3, Grooms 1 0 0-0 2, tucker 1 0 0-0 2, Cannady 0 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0 0-0 0, Francis 0 0 0-0 0, Bishop 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-2, FT-11-13, PF-20.
Massac County (60) – Kester 5 0 1-1 11, Lang 3 0 0-0 6, Bailey 2 0 9-14 13, Ayala 2 0 0-0 4, Johnson 2 1 4-5 11, Henry 0 0 0-0 0, Morse 0 0 0-0 0, Korte 2 2 5-5 15, Maxie 0 0 0-0 0, Sommer 0 0 0-0 0, McManus 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-19-25, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Massac County Bench.