BUENA VISTA —
In their first year at the new Marion County High School campus both the Eagles and Lady Eagles have broken in their new gym with a fantastic season filled with many wins. Nothing changed this weekend as the Eagles and Lady Eagles both won crucial region match-ups against Region 4-A foe Central-Talbotton on Friday night before splitting a double-header with non-region opponent Kendrick High School of Columbus on Saturday night in the Eagles nest.
The successful weekend schedule started with a 68-40 Lady Eagle victory over Central-Talbotton on Friday night. Marion County opened the night with a massive 26-9 first period, and cruised through the rest of the game on their way to the 68-40 region win. Junior guard Jada Gardner continued a phenomenal season with 26 points including a four-for-four night from behind the three point line. Fellow junior Aiyanna Crumbley had 11 points and nine assists, and sophomore forward Aisha Ansley added 13 points and eight rebounds in the win for the Lady Eagles.
The Eagles then took the court for what promised to be an extremely physical and entertaining contest against a strong Central-Talbotton opponent. Marion County built a seven point lead after a 14-7 first period, and maintained that lead as they entered the half up 30-23. The seven point differential would remain following the third period, but a huge fourth period would allow the Eagles to stretch their final margin of victory to 19 points with a 77-58 win.
Lorenzo Smothers would lead the Eagles with 25 points, followed by Jalen Brown who added 23 points and eight rebounds in the victory. Trae Swanson rounded out the Eagles double-digit scorers with 10 points, but senior DeMarquez Mallard had an impressive 15 rebounds to help lead his team to victory.
The following night the Lady Eagles and Eagles would once again match up with a tough opponent in the Kendrick Cherokees.
The Lady Eagles would go back-and-fourth with Kendrick in the first period as the Lady Cherokees narrowly outscored Marion 10-9 to take an early lead. A 14-9 run in the second quarter would stretch out the Lady Cherokee lead to 24-18 going into halftime, and a disastrous 11-3 collapse in the third quarter would put the Lady Eagles down 34-21 going into the final period. Kendrick would maintain their lead in the final period, and hold on in the fourth to claim the 50-34 non-region victory.
Following the Lady Eagles loss the Eagles would tip off in what would quickly become the DeMarquez Mallard show. Mallard came on to the court on fire from the opening tip, and three periods later the stats reflected his legendary triple-double performance with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Mallard would contribute a huge night in every phase of the game as he led his team to a 37-24 halftime lead. He would not show any signs of fatigue in the second half as he kept his foot on the pedal and powered the Eagles to what would become a big 86-63 final score over the Cherokees.
Swanson would score 15 points and Smothers and Markeese Bridges would add 13 points to help lead the Eagles to victory. The Eagles moved to 14-7 overall after the big weekend and pushed their Region 4-A record to 7-5 following their win over Central.
The Eagles and Lady Eagles will close out the regular season with two home games apiece this week. Marion County will take on Dooly tonight and Brookstone on Friday with the girl’s games beginning at 6 p.m., followed by the boy’s games at 7:30 p.m.
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Related Photos
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DeMarquez Mallard (white jersey) had a triple-double against Kendrick on Saturday night in Buena Vista. Scott Phillips
Eagles sweep weekend set, girl’s split after loss to Kendrick
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