In a highly-anticipated rematch of last season’s Dec. 1 51-50 East Marion victory over Columbia, the Eagles (3-4) once again came from behind in the second half to beat Columbia (3-3) on the road 55-47 Friday night in a raucous and championship-game-like environment.
The Wildcats got off to a great start, stymying East Marion’s offense and knocking down several three-pointers, and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. However, East Marion made some defensive adjustments at halftime and became much more aggressive offensively in the third quarter. The Eagles outscored the Wildcats 25-12 in the third quarter and held the lead throughout the fourth quarter.
While East Marion’s Devin Daniels may have had only four points, two assists and one rebound to his name off the bench, he swung the game in East Marion’s favor more than any other player. Brown gave Daniels the responsibility of sticking with Columbia’s leading scorer, TJ Monroe, throughout the second half, and he was more than up to the task.
Where Daniels excelled was denying passes to Monroe, and he forced other Wildcats to try to pick up the scoring slack while he came away with three steals. Monroe finished with 26 points and drilled 6-of-12 three-pointers, scoring 16 of the Wildcats’ 24 in the first half and just 10 in the second. He also had a team-high six rebounds and four steals without turning the ball over.
“The main thing was to not let (TJ) go bananas,” Eagles head coach Calvin Brown said of the halftime adjustments. “We wanted to force some other guys to make plays. Mac (Flenard McLin), Devin and Lawrence (Lambert) rotated on him, and we threw three bodies on him. Vashon (Sims) was on hold, if necessary. We wanted to make him work to get touches and produce points, and two to put pressure on other guys. In an East Marion-Columbia rivalry game, we wanted to put pressure on them to carry the load, and that gave us the opportunity to stay in striking distance.”
Columbia head coach Charlie James said the Wildcats stagnated offensively in the second half and couldn’t find the rhythm they had in the first half.
“We started standing around, and they did a good job of applying pressure to us. Our guys kind of froze and were like deer in headlights,” he said. “I thought in the first half we moved the ball well and got open looks. In the second half, we just stood still and relied on TJ. We need someone to step up and help us out.”
Brown said a lot of the offensive struggles early in the game could be credited to James’ defensive acumen, along with the Eagles still trying to come together as a team.
“Coach James does a great job at slowing you down and making you think. Right now we’re still trying to shake the AAU out of us, and it takes us all of November to do that. That’s not a complaint. When you’re seeing a structured, calculated defense that’s not going to give you what you want, it requires some semblance of execution,” he said. “We know we’re not going to win games in November with execution, but you have to at least have floor balance, floor spacing and a plan of attack.”
The Wildcats battled back in the fourth quarter and trimmed East Marion’s lead to four points with just over two minutes to play, but last year’s hero stepped up again for the Eagles. McLin drilled two free throws with one second to play to win last season’s thriller, and he saved his best for the end once again. He sank a three-pointer to extend the lead to 53-47 then made a contested layup on the next possession to seal the deal. Brown said he expects nothing less of McLin in crunch time.
“He’s a winner, and he likes those moments. He knew that was his last time playing in this gym. Win, lose or draw, he was going to go down fighting,” he said. “I can’t say enough about these guys. They deserve success. I’ve been in it long enough to realize sometimes you just deserve success, and sometimes you don’t. This group deserves they achieve and accomplish before they graduate.”
Sims had a team-high 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Eagles, while John Rawls had 14 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting night to go along with eight rebounds — five offensive — and three steals. Caleb Rawls added 12 points and seven boards, while McLin chipped in eight points.
For the Wildcats James said others around Monroe are going to need to build confidence to take tough shots in crunch time because opposing teams are going to try to take him away.
“Other guys had good looks, but for whatever reason they got reluctant to take them. Somebody has to take those shots in moments like that,” he said. “(East Marion) is a great ball team and did a great job to adjusting to what we were doing. I didn’t do a great job of adjusting.”
Javen Moses was the second leading scorer for Columbia with six points on two triples, while Tykelvis Wright had two blocks. James said despite the loss there were several things he liked in the team’s first game with its full roster.
“The energy, effort and tenacity is something we can definitely build upon. We’re still learning each other,” he said. “I saw some highlights and some good defensive stuff we can build off of. I thought it was a pretty evenly-matched game. The difference was (Brown) had a few more guys step up and hit some shots. At halftime we had 24 points, and TJ had 16 of them. We have to have somebody else.”
East Marion hosted Laurel Tuesday night (results unavailable at press time) and will play host to Bay Springs Friday. Columbia hosted Wayne County Tuesday (results unavailable) and will play at South Pike in Magnolia Friday night.
Pictured Above: East Marion's Caleb Rawls sinks a close-range shot at Columbia Friday night. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
