GRANITE CITY – The Marquette Explorers visited an empty Granite City High School gym because of COVID-19 protocols to take on the Warriors on a cold Midwestern night Friday. There may have been no spectators allowed in the stands, but there was still plenty of intensity from the players on the court. The Explorers won the game by a 12-point margin of 62-48. Despite the gap in the final score, all four quarters were competitive enough that the game went into overtime.
Marquette owned the tempo in the first two quarters and ended the first half of the game up 21-18. “To their coach’s credit, he made adjustments and said, ‘we are going to try to speed these guys up, run at them and trap them.’ They took the control away from what our team does well – we control the tempo and play at a good pace," said Explorers head coach Steve Medford.
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Once Granite City established their new strategy, they started the second half of the game particularly strong. Medford added: “Their coach does a good job and understands what type of plays we like running. We were able to run our plays in the first half and I think we put them on their heels.”
After four quarters, Granite City took advantage of their opportunities and tied the game with 2 seconds left thanks to two successful free throws by Mark Yarbourgh. Medford said: “We had a lot of turnovers that caused the game to get close. Fortunately, our guys held in there during the fourth quarter and overtime. Our guys also did a great job of stepping up and getting to the free-throw line. Then we made a lot of them and was a difference in the game. I am proud of our guys for tonight’s win.”
One of the biggest takeaways from the game was the difference in overtime points. In the final four minutes of overtime, the Granite City Warriors put up 0 points while the Explorers scored 12 points.
“I think our guys are tough and did a good job of digging in defensively," Coach Medford said. "I thought they had a lot of one and done in the overtime. We did a great job in overtime by taking care of the basketball, rebounding the basketball, and knocking down free throws. When you do those three things well, you are going to win a lot of games.”
Scoring totals for tonight's game can be found below.
Marquette Points:
Parker Macias – 18 points
Owen Williams – 14 points
Braden Kline – 13 points
Jamion Everage – 6 points
Dre Davis – 5 points
Brody Hendricks – 4 points
Kendall Lavender – 2 points
Granite City Points:
Mark Yarbourgh – 15 points
Trevon Bond – 8 points
Tyrek Thomas – 15 points
Octavia Hureta – 2 points
Alex Boyer – 2 points
Tyrese Grose – 6 points
Up next, Normal High School will visit Granite City high school tomorrow at 5 pm. The Explorers play at Sacred Heart-Griffin at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, then at Bunker Hill at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 11, then host Maryville Christian at 4 p.m. on January 15.
