By Bret Shambaugh
Contributing Writer
NEW CASTLE – Marion will long remember Dec. 28 as a turning point in its 2007-08 season. The Class 4A Giants came to New Castle Fieldhouse and the 2007 City Securities Hall of Fame Classic undefeated and the top-rated team in the state.
But following their 65-60 Hall of Fame consolation game loss to 3A top-ranked Edgewood, Marion departed as a loser in both of its tournament contests.
In the battle for third place, Edgewood (8-1) executed its offense as well as any team can.
“I am very proud of our kids and their effort following the tough loss this morning,” Edgewood coach Jay Brown said of his Mustangs, who had dropped a fanatical 66-65 clash to 3A No. 2 Batesville in an earlier semifinal. “This is a tough day with a very tough field.
“We believe this was excellent preparation for our kids’ play this March.”
A consolation game is always a difficult undertaking and, as Brown indicated, this contest was no exception – for either team. Edgewood (8-1) basically won the game from the free throw line, going 20 for 28 compared with the Giants’ 4-of-7 effort.
Both teams took care of their possessions with precision. North Central Conference juggernaut Marion (7-2) only turned the ball over seven times, and Edgewood was even better – the Mustangs turned it over just five times.
Per usual, the Mustangs were led in scoring by preseason All-State selection Garrett Butcher (a game-high 25 points). The Edgewood offense goes through Butcher, who drives to the basket as aggressively as anyone who has played in this state.
The senior, therefore, shoots a lot of free throws, and this game was no exception as the 6’7” swingman connected on 15 of 19 free throws. Butcher’s 19 attempts were a consolation game record, breaking the old mark of 18 shared by Cloverdale’s Chad Tucker (1982) and New Washington’s Jamie Matthews (’88).
As teams in Southern Indiana are discovering, collapsing on Butcher can pose a problem if the Mustangs’ guards bring their shooting touch. On this evening, senior guard Tommy Weakley brought his 20/20 vision.
Weakley torched the Giants by making 7 of 11 from the floor, including 6 of 10 from behind the 3-point arc. The 6-foot guard finished with 23 points, and he also had a game-high four assists.
In the second stanza alone, Weakley flirted with being superhuman by making five straight threes and converting on all three foul shots when he was fouled in the act of shooting. If your math skills are good, you just deduced that Weakley scored 18 of his 23 points in the second period!
Marion’s led 15-11 after one quarter when preseason All-State selection senior Julius Mays’ 38-foot 3-pointer beat the buzzer. But the Giants trailed 35-29 at the half following Edgewood’s Weakley-fueled 24-14 second-period edge.
Edgewood took its final lead with 2:08 remaining in the third period. Two free throws by Mr. Basketball candidate Butcher gave the Mustangs a lead they would not give back at 42-41.
Jennings Scholars Award Winner senior Caleb Bragg came off the bench at the end for Marion to score the game’s final four points, but it wasn’t enough.
Six-foot-four senior swingman Jay Edwards Jr. improved his all-star stock by playing another complete game, finishing with 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds. And junior sharpshooter Scott Wood regained his touch and kept things interesting by going 7 of 12 from the floor – including 5 of 10 from 3-point range – in scoring a team-high 19 points.
But Marion seemed out-of-sync all day – especially Mays, who struggled again from the floor (5 of 13) in scoring just 12 points.
How the Giants regroup will determine the importance of this day as it relates to the outcome of their season. Yet there are 63 days until March – plenty of time to climb back up the mountain.
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