The East Marion Eagles (22-3) advanced to the second round of the Class 1A state playoffs Tuesday night with a highly competitive 62-48 home win over Durant.
The Eagles will play Stringer in the second round Friday night at 7:30, following the Lady Eagles against Stringer at 6. Heading into the game Brown called the Red Devils a “very dangerous” team who he compared to the team the Eagles beat for the district championship.
“I have the same concerns with them as I did with Sacred Heart,” Brown said. “(Stringer) is like a version of Sacred Heart with a little more athleticism.”
A win over Stringer would send the Eagles to where they have been trying to get to the past couple of years — the Mississippi Coliseum. Before the season Brown said it’s “Coliseum or bust” for this Eagles squad, and it’s well within reach at this point. The Eagles would match up with either Okolona or Shaw March 1 at 10:30 a.m. at the Jackson multipurpose arena.
Throughout the first 10-12 minutes of game time Durant tested the Eagles thoroughly. East Marion has feasted all season on fast-break points, using its length, athleticism and overall wealth of ball handlers to force quick turnovers and convert them into easy looks at the rim. But early on the Tigers were able to match the Eagles athleticism and negate East Marion’s biggest advantage over most teams. However, the Eagles depth turned out to be the key difference in bringing the Eagles fast-break offense off turnovers to life.
“We felt pretty good about the scouting report and felt our advantage was that we had to play four quarters,” head coach Calvin Brown said. “We knew they matched us physically and athletically at four positions. We felt like (rotation players) five through eight was where we were going to win the game over the course of four quarters. If you take fatigue away, that’s a dog fight and nail biter until the end.”
With East Marion clinging to a three-point lead in the second quarter, Brown went deeper than usual into his bench, inserting CJ Myers, a seldom used 5-foot-6 point guard who averaged less than a point per game this season. Myers provided a spark for the Eagles with an unmatched level of intensity on both ends of the floor. He consistently double teamed the unsuspecting Durant ball handlers, coming up with several steals and gave up his body on the offensive end to draw contact and get to the line.
Brown went to Myers again in the third quarter and was rewarded once more. Myers drew contact to get to the line on three straight trips toward the end of the quarter, then Myers stole the ensuing inbounds pass with four seconds left in the third, tossed a cross-court pass as he fell out of bounds to Lawrence Lambert, who drilled a wide open three with one tick left to give the Eagles a comfortable 47-30 lead heading into the final stanza.
The effort landed the 120-pound energizer bunny on the ground time and time again as he dove for loose balls and was fouled by players with much bigger frames. That willingness to throw his body around, though, not only ignited his fellow teammates but the crowd as well.
“He was definitely a spark plug, and that’s his identity. When he gets on the floor he makes things happen,” Brown said. “There’s some guys in front of him that limit his minutes, but he has some playmaking instincts and is very competitive. Any time he’s on the floor he’s looking to make something happen.”
Ja’Mario Marsalis led the Eagles with 12 points, highlighted by three early 3-pointers to buoy the Eagles offense until their depth could take over. Vashon Sims, who had 10 points, and Caleb Rawls, who had seven, provided some highlight dunks to keep the crowd in full force. John Rawls and Flenard McLin were both steady offensively with eight points, while Myers and Lambert turned their perimeter defense into seven points each.
The only qualm to take away from East Marion’s first round win was its questionable shot selection at times, which was magnified in fast-break opportunities when Durant kept up with the Eagles. Brown said some of the turnaround fade away shots the Eagles ended up with at times don’t mesh with their identity.
“We feel like our advantage is footprints in the paint and fingerprints on the backboard. We never want to fade unless we’re forced to fade,” he concluded. “We want to be aggressive and challenge people to stay in front of us or contest us. We don’t ever want to settle for anything going away from the basket unless we have to.”
Pictured Above: CJ Myers draws contact on a layup to get to the free throw line. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
