Hardwood Heroes Sports
Week In Review: Meigs Basketball Looks at Bright Spots In Tough Stretch
By: Nick Henthorn
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A suboptimal week for the Meigs Marauders basketball teams is behind them now, as the boys squad went 1-2 and the girls squad went 0-4. While the outcomes weren’t always desirable, Meigs can take away the positives while trying to leave behind the negatives that the past seven days have elucidated.
For the boys, their first matchup ended in heartbreaking fashion Tuesday against a conference foe in the Athens Bulldogs. The last meeting between the two, last season in February, was a thriller that saw Athens come out on top by only four points. This matchup was even closer, but the Marauders still could not overcome the Bulldogs, dropping the game 57-55. Meigs carried a 34-13 halftime lead thanks to 16 points from Weston Baer (who would finish with 20), but that lead evaporated over the final frames of play as Meigs struggled to hit from the field and the free-throw stripe, going 9-of-19 from the line down the stretch.
Consistency from the free-throw line has eluded Meigs all season, and is certainly an aspect that, if improved, would aid the Marauders considerably.
The Marauders could not get back into the win column in their next game on Friday when they took on another conference opponent in the Alexander, as they were soundly defeated, 52-33. Meigs was down 25-13 at half, and after a pair of technical fouls on Meigs head coach Jeremy Hill sent him into the locker room, the flood gates opened. Alexander’s Caleb Terry finished with 19 while Kyler D’Augustino totaled 13. But Meigs’ free-throw woes were alleviated, as the squad went 17-of-19 throughout the contest.
The boys were able to finish the week on a high note, besting the New Hope Christian Academy Statesmen 55-38 on Saturday. Meigs led the entire second half, and had nothing but positives from this game. The Statesmen were held to only 1-15 from behind the line, and 33% from the field in general. Offensively, Meigs shot 37.5% on their own three-pointers, and put together several impressive statlines. Baer finished with 23 points behind four long-balls. Coulter Cleland finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Bobby Musser totaled eight rebounds and six(!) blocked shots. And the free-throw shooting for the team remained somewhat stable, as the Marauders went 9-of-14.
Moving onto the Lady Marauders, their week started with a Monday showdown against the Lady Spartans, who bested Meigs 57-39. The Lady Marauders had offensive spurts, and got the lead to single digits at halftime, but Alexanders’ steady offensive output stopped any hopes of a comeback. Sophomore Mallory Hawley stepped up her scoring in this game, something that would be a trend over the week, and something the Lady Marauders are sure to build off of moving forward. She finished with 18 on the game, 13 of which came in the second half.
The Morgan Lady Raiders were next for Meigs, and they would come into Larry R. Morrison Gymnasium and beat Meigs 90-40. The Lady Marauders scored the first five points of the contest, but it was all downhill from there, as Morgan held Meigs to 25% shooting from the field, and went on a 23-to-10 run to end the game. Hawley once again impressed, putting up 28 points to go along with seven steals and a block. Freshman Rylee Lisle also finished with a well-rounded box score, ending up with four points, six rebounds and four assists.
Meigs went up against a different Lady Raiders squad on Thursday, as they lost to the River Valley Lady Raiders 61-53. Meigs improved as the game went on, nearly tying the game up in the fourth quarter after being down by as much as 15 earlier in the game, but they could not complete the comeback. Mallory Hawley ended with 16 points, five assists, five steals and a block, but Lisle picked up a lot of scoring slack, finishing with 18 points while nailing shots from around the perimeter. These two young players are only going to improve this year, and in years to come.
The Lady Marauders dropped their Saturday game against the Tug Valley Lady Panthers in a contest where Meigs was down three starters due to students being out of town for winter break.
After this week, the Meigs boys’ record stands at 5-3, while the girls are 2-7.