Following a nearly month off from a voluntary shut down, the East Marion Eagles continued their impressive start to the season last week.
Taking on North Forrest (8-4), who beat East Marion three times in very close games last year, the Eagles (4-2, 1-1) had arguably their best showing of the young season in a 71-31 blowout victory. They jumped out to a 12-0 lead four minutes into the game that ballooned to 17-3 at the end of the first quarter and 27-5 by halftime. East Marion was particularly efficient denying North Forrest inside, forcing turnovers and getting quality looks at the basket, playing a near-flawless game.
“It just felt good to start off with a win after not playing for so long, but there was nothing particularly special about that one,” head coach Calvin Brown said. “For one, Joe (Holloway) got two fouls early, so we still don’t have a good gauge of how we match up with them. That was huge and the momentum just continued to build, so that score is no reflection of how we match up with them.”
Holloway was averaging 24.6 points per game going into the matchup but was held scoreless in limited minutes by the Eagles.
Vashon Sims posted his highest scoring output since East Marion’s semifinal win over Potts Camp two years ago — the 6-foot-4 point guard missed all of last season with a back injury — pouring in a game-high 25 points while drilling six 3-pointers, a career best. He stuffed the stat sheet as well with eight rebounds, six steals and four assists.
Cameron Walker added 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and three steals, while Caleb Rawls was extremely efficient in limited minutes. Rawls took a hard fall in the second quarter, landing awkwardly on his hand and smacking his head on the hardwood, which led to a concussion. However, despite playing just 15 minutes, the 6-foot-7 forward posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Deuce Johnson also had a solid game with eight points and seven boards, while Jack Johnson had four assists and three steals.
Brown said the Eagles had been working hard in practice with a lot of enthusiasm, and he was glad to see it translate into game action.
As impressive as the win against North Forrest was, East Marion got humbled Friday night in Biloxi in a 68-55 loss to St. Patrick (15-1, 2-0). Brown said the Eagles knew going in that St. Patrick’s Nick Krass and Drew Roth shoot it really well, but there were some attention to detail mistakes that allowed the duo to go off on the Eagles.
Krass drilled five 3-pointers and 16 field goals overall for a career-high 40 points, while Roth complemented him with 23 points of his own as the duo combined for 63 of the Fighting Irish’s 68 points. Brown said Rawls’ absence (concussion) was no excuse for letting Krass and Roth get so many quality looks.
“Both of them were going to have good nights because they’re responsible for so much of (St. Patrick’s) load this season, but you add to that not locating a guy, miscommunication on a screen or letting them get a second shot when you don’t block out, that’s how you turn a 25-point night into a 40-point career night,” he said.
Brown said Carlos Stubbs, Jack Johnson and Jacob Johnson all played really well offensively but that Sims could sense Krass was going off and tried to match him shot for shot rather than letting the offense come to him.
“It just took too much out of him trying to challenge (Krass) and going bucket for bucket,” Brown said. “But another big takeaway was that (Sims) pretty much went the distance, and he wouldn’t have been able to do that two weeks ago. But there were some stretches where his legs were heavy just from trying to carry a little bit too much of the load.”
Sims was limited to nine points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. Brown added that he loves the trajectory Sims is on in his recovery, though, and he just needs to stay the course.
Walker had an efficient night shooting, scoring 15 points on 60% shooting and making 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Deuce Johnson had 10 points, followed by Jack Johnson’s nine points and Carlos Stubbs’ eight points.
East Marion played at Collins Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. The Eagles will have six days off before heading to the West side to take on the West Marion Trojans Monday night. Then Tuesday they will play host to Collins as they continue Region 8-2A play.
