01-09-04
MASSAC COUNTY @ MURPHYSBORO
BY JACK BULLOCK
MURPHYSBORO - In what was supposed to be a close contest for early supremacy in the SIRR Ohio Division on Friday night, the Massac County-Murphysboro match up turned 'one-sided' from the opening tap.

Tommy House, and his underrated cousin Lamont, led Murphysboro on an early offensive barrage that rocked the Patriots back on their heels.

Hitting shots from behind the arc and from in the paint, 'T and L' delivered an early 'TKO' as Murphysboro roared out to an early lead and coasted in an unexpectedly easy 83-50 win.

The two Red Devil guards combined to score 48-points in nearly matching the Massac total.

While coach Daryl Murphy's club improved to 12-2 on the season and 4-0 in the conference; Massac County crawled home with an 11-3 mark with their first Ohio Division defeat of the year.

"We came out in a 2-3 zone and everything that they shot went in the basket," said a disappointed Joe Hosman, who saw his club fall behind 10-0 and later 26-7 at the first horn. "We got kind of 'shell-shocked' around the basket early. Matt Jacobs was in his (Tommy's) face most of the night but he made the shots."

T-House opened up the scoring just moments into the game on the first Murphysboro possession when he drained the first of his five 3-pointers on the night to make it 3-0.

His cousin L-House made a steal near mid-court and hit a lay up while being fouled by Massac's Dominique Petty. His made charity extended the Red Devils lead to 10-0 with 5:41 to go.

Petty hit his only shot of the night, canning a 3-pointer with 5:16 left to get Massac on the board.
But Murphysboro answered back with Harvey Word hitting from 20-feet at the top of the arc and L-House hit on a drive down the Massac baseline and it was 15-3.

Murphysboro's next possession resulted in what was a microcosm of the 'Patriot's trip to Murphysboro.

Traveon Loving stepped back in the left corner for a 3-point attempt that was headed 'wide left.'

But somehow it hit high off the backboard and 'banked in' the basket giving the 'Devils an 18-3 lead.

"When I saw that shot go in, I knew we were in for a long night," added Coach Hosman.

Unfortunately for Coach H, he was right on the money with his projection.

Massac's Matt Jacobs and Bryan Meyer each scored baskets for the Patriots before the quarter ended.

But Murphysboro's Ryan McFarland came off the bench and hit a nice running shot in the lane, which made it 26-7 at the end of one.

Tommy House, as he did to open the game, hit another long 3-pointer to extend the lead to 29-7.

Massac battled back when Aaron Bowman hit a 3-pointer and Jacobs scored on conventional 3-point play to get the score to 31-13.

But L-House turned it up another notch with a personal 7-0 run.

His final points in the run were the result of a lay in and subsequent free throw that pushed the advantage to 38-13 with 5:17 to go before halftime.

Loving scored again before intermission on a rebound in the paint to increase the lead to 40-15.

Gerren Rogers, the Patriots' 6-8 center, finally got on the scoreboard with 1:20 left in the second quarter when his drive in the lane resulted in a basket, a made free throw and a 40-18 score.

A pair of free throws by Red Devil reserve Jesse Barge sent the Red Devils scurrying to the locker room with a commanding 42-18 lead.

"Tonight our guards disrupted their play, we put a lot of pressure on them," said Murphysboro coach Daryl Murphy. "We made it tough for them to get the ball to their big kids inside and I think that made the difference tonight."

If there was any doubt about the Patriots making a comeback, it ended when Murphysboro scored the first six points in the third quarter.

T-House hit on a drive down the left baseline which was followed by a pair of free-throws by L-House and a basket by Word making the score 48-18.

The second half saw Massac begin to get the ball inside to Rogers, and he responded by scoring 12 of his team-high 18 in the third quarter.

However these points did nothing to cut into the Red Devils lead.

By the time T-House reeled in another 3-point shot and hit a pair of late third quarter free throws, Murphysboro's lead had expanded to 67-42 with :02 left.

Massac's Jacobs put up the 'highlight of the night' as he found the bottom of the net on a shot from nearly 70-feet to beat the buzzer.

But that 'warm fuzzy' soon disappeared as the Patriots headed into the final quarter still trailing by 22.

T-House finalized the drubbing of Massac with two exceptionally long 3-point shots.

His second one, before coming out of the game, was from at least 25-feet and made the score 79-48.

The reserves finished out the remaining minutes.

The Murphysboro faithful left the gym smiling while the Patriot backers exited and headed home wondering 'what was the license plate number of the car that just hit their team?'

"When you get the kind of shots to fall like we did tonight, then things are going to go your way," said Murphysboro coach Daryl Murphy. "I think they (Massac) missed some shots early that they usually make while the game was still around eight-to-ten points and we were able to get out and get some easy baskets. I have been on the other side of that so I know the feeling. I think that they got frustrated a bit and it kind of rolled from there. But we will have to go to their place in a few weeks and it could be totally different down there."

Lamont House led all scorers with 26-points while Tommy House added 22 with five 3-pointers on the night.

Loving and Word chipped in 13 and eight points.

Rogers led Massac with 18 while Jacobs scored 14.

Murphysboro is off until next Friday night when they host Herrin while Massac County will get back on the bus Saturday night and head down South to play perennial Missouri power New Madrid (MO.) Central.

Coach Hosman finalized the night by giving these Devils their due.

"They just played super tonight and I am so glad that they are not Class A."

Massac County (50) - Jacobs 4 1 3-3 14, Bradford 1 0 3-4 5, Bowman 0 2 0-0 6, Rogers 6 0 6-8 18, Meyer 1 0 0-2 2, Petty 0 1 0-0 3, Kindle 0 0 2-4 2.
2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-14-17, PF-12.
Murphysboro (83) - Barge 0 0 2-2 2, Word 2 1 1-2 8, T. House 2 5 3-4 22, L. House 10 0 6-7 26, McFarland 1 1 0-0 5, R. Brooks 1 0 0-0 2, Loving 4 1 2-2 13, Keener 0 1 0-0 3, James 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-21, 3FG-9, FT-14-17, PF-24.
Fouled Out - None, Technical Fouls - None.