by Dave Kearney
Senior Editor
12/08/2006
John Marshall boys basketball coach Frank Threatts, Jr.
says of his Justices, ??We??re a good team. If we do certain things,
we??ll be okay.? Early in the third quarter of Friday??s non-district
game against the Henrico Warriors, with a Marshall
lead that had shrunk from 16 to just 2, Coach Threatts used a
well-considered timeout to remind the Justices of the things to do. The
Justices listened and the result was a 71-56 Marshall victory.
Early on, Marshall displayed sharp team play to control the game. Junior point guard Aaron Farrar
ably led the Justices in dismantling a Henrico team that
uncharacteristically seemed a bit out of sync. The Justices built a 7-0
lead on two-point buckets by freshman Maurice Johnson and senior Jermaine Scruggs, and a three-pointer by senior Chad Gambrell before Henrico scored it??s first points on two free throws by junior Jamar Cooper at 5:38 in the quarter.
The
Justices continued in charge through the quarter with some fancy
shooting displays, including a shot by Scruggs, as he fell to the
court, that made the score 19-8. Junior Darryl Lee took
over at the end of the period, making two free throws and two baskets,
including a nice stick-back to take the score to 25-9. A score by
Henrico??s junior Claude Summers completed the first quarter scoring with John Marshall ahead 25-11.
Summers??
score turned out to be the start of Henrico??s comeback, and the
Warriors made the first six points of the second period, on two free
throws and two baskets by junior Jerrett Wansley, pulling the team to within 8 at 25-17. After trading two pairs of baskets, Henrico used a free throw by senior center Desmone Dickerson and a basket by senior guard Nick Brown to pull to 29-25.
The Justices responded with a Scruggs three-pointer and a Farrar bucket. After a free throw by Henrico junior guard Leron Jones and another Summers score, Marshall got a three-pointer from junior Devin Thornton and a basket from freshman Travis McKie to build the lead back out to ten (39-29). Henrico??s Cooper scored to close out the half, 39-31.
Coming
out of the locker room at the start of the second half, Henrico kept up
its aggressive offensive attack and its shots were connecting. Marshall
came out of its more controlled offense and its shots weren??t falling.
Dickerson made two big baskets in close, followed by a score by Brown.
The score was 39-37 Marshall, and Coach Threatts called his timeout.
??They were rushing things a little bit,? Coach Threatts said about his team.
The remedy took, but wasn??t entirely immediate. After the timeout, the Warriors stayed in the game for a while longer. Thornton scored a three-pointer coming out of the timeout, but was matched by one by Brown. But Marshall had regrouped and started to pull away. Working on a nifty lay-up and then a three-pointer by Thornton, and another three-pointer by Scruggs, the Justices re-extended their lead to 58-46 by the end of the third period.
The
fourth quarter was all John Marshall. Midway through the period, the
Justices had built their lead out to 66-48, and the Warriors didn??t
come any closer than 13 the rest of the way.
In
the locker room following the game, Coach Threatts had nothing but
praise for his athletes. He pointed out that the team has a lot of
returning members, but also a number of new players, and still is
??pretty young.? The two freshmen starters, Maurice Johnson and Travis
McKie, still are growing, and look to be long term Marshall threats.
??They had to learn me, and I had to learn them,? says Coach Threatts, speaking of his team. ??We had to get the chemistry right.?
Coach Threatts also gives high praise to his assistant coaches, ??My assistant coaches do all of the work.?
Scruggs led Marshall??s balanced scoring with 15 points, followed by Johnson with 13 and Thornton
with 11. The Warriors were led by Wansley with 15, Brown with 14, and
Dickerson with 12. John Marshall moves to 4-0, and Henrico stands at
4-2.
# # # # #
Box Score
|
Henrico
|
11
|
20
|
15
|
10
|
?? 56
|
|
John Marshall
|
25
|
14
|
19
|
13
|
?? 71
|
|
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