ELLAVILLE —
The Marion County Lady Eagles and Eagles traveled to Ellaville on Tuesday night to take on the Schley County Lady Wildcats and Wildcats in a couple of pivotal early season Region 4-A contests. Although the Lady Wildcats took an early lead in the first game, the Lady Eagles battled back in the second half to claim a 24 point win. The Eagles then followed the lady’s impressive effort with a 30 point victory to complete the sweep of their border county rivals.
After falling behind Marion 4-0, the Lady Wildcats of Schley County caught fire and charged ahead to a 19-13 lead behind the hot shooting of Trenity Coleman and Mackenzie Smith. Smtih and Coleman each had eight first quarter points to help the Lady Wildcats claim the first period lead, but the Lady Eagle defense would clamp down in the second period, and a long offensive run would help put the game out of reach as Marion claimed a ten point halftime lead.
Trailing 21-19 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, the Lady Eagles went on a 12-0 run to close out the first half. The 12 unanswered points put the Lady Eagles on top 31-21 at halftime, and that lead would only grow in the second half.
The Lady Eagles would score 45 points in the final two periods as they outscored the Lady ‘Cats 20-15 in the third period and 25-16 in the fourth period to stretch their halftime lead to an impressive 76-52 victory in Ellaville. The second period run allowed the Lady Eagles to play an aggressive defense, and when the final buzzer sounded Marion County moved to 3-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in Region 4-A. The Lady ‘Cats fell to 3-2 on the year, and the loss moved their Region 4-A record to 1-1 after Schley County defeated Pacelli last weekend.
Jada Gardner led the Lady Eagles with 17 points, followed by Chelsy Haynes and Aisha Ansley with 16 points. For the Lady Wildcats, Coleman paved the way 24 points, and Smith added 10 points to join her as the other double-digit scorer.
The Marion County boys then took the court against the Wildcats for the second game of the double-header. In the second match-up it was the Eagles who started off hot and took an early lead on their rival. Led by a 10 point first period effort from Trae Swanson, Marion County raced out to an 18-8 first period lead. Kelsey Solomon scored six of the Wildcats eight first quarter points, but with a big lead the Eagles began to pull away in the second period.
Schley County scored an impressive 14 points in the second period, but the Eagles went shot-for-shot with them and put 17 points of their own on the board to claim a 35-22 halftime lead.
The second half would be more of the same as the Eagles stretched their lead out even more behind the sharp-shooting Swanson. In the final two periods Marion County would go on a scoring frenzy by adding 37 points to outscore Schley County 37-20 and end the night with a 72-42 victory on the enemy’s court.
Swanson ended the night as the game’s leading scorer with 23 points, and DeMarquez Mallard added 11 points to help lead the Eagles to victory. Lorenzo Smothers scored nine points, and Shavon Harris and Markeese Bridges each added eight points to the Eagles total.
For the Wildcats, Solomon led the way with 18 points, followed by Jon Thompson with 11 points in the tough loss.
Marion County will return home on Friday to take on the AAAA Americus-Sumter Panthers and Lady Panthers in their second-straight border battle. The ladies game will tip off at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game at 7:30 p.m. Schley County will travel to Columbus on Friday night to take on Dawson County in the Pacelli Christmas Showcase at a time yet to be determined.
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Related Photos
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Shavon Harris had a big night to help the Eagles soar past the Wildcats 72-42. Scott Phillips
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Chelsy Haynes (22) had 16 points to help the Lady Eagles beat Schley County 76-52. Scott Phillips
Marion County takes doubleheader sweep in Ellaville
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