The East Marion Eagles have played some really good teams to begin the season, by design, to prepare them for postseason play and squared off against a talented Laurel squad last week before their Friday showdown with Picayune was snowed out.
West Marion, meanwhile, played its first district game of the season against Seminary, then played Bogue Chitto Monday.
East Marion
Laurel, who is ranked No. 5 in the state regardless of classification as a 5A school according to MaxPreps, had already beaten talented programs such as Newton County, Bay Springs and Oak Grove to begin the season before knocking off the Eagles 72-52 last Tuesday night.
Head coach Calvin Brown said he knew it would be a tough matchup going in and wanted to see which players would rise to the occasion.
“We’re still playing a lot of people just to see who can be depended on when it matters most,” he said. “Honestly, we had some kids kind of get beat up on. We knew Laurel was tough, and that’s what we wanted to see — who makes plays against top competition and who doesn’t.”
One of the big things that hurt the Eagles was protecting the basketball as they had an underwhelming 22:10 turnover to assist ratio.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball, and that starts with guard play,” Brown said. “Against Laurel, I thought we matched up with them much better than we did last season. I thought it would be a very competitive game that we’d have a chance to win, but like the stats show, our guards have to do better taking care of the ball. When you do that, you get more shots and better shots that help your shooting percentage.”
While the loss was not ideal, Brown is liking what he is seeing from a pair of freshman.
“Caleb Rawls is emerging and his future is really bright. You see flashes of how good he is going to be. He had a real impressive debut and is still showing a lot of promise,” he said. “Lawrence Lambert may be under the radar, but he’s going to be a very valuable piece to the equation with what he brings to the table with defensive intensity and toughness. He doesn’t back down from any challenge, and that’s going to be very beneficial when you start really scouting other teams’ best players. When your season is on the line and you’re trying to shave a few points off of somebody’s scoring average, he’s a guy who will accept that challenge.”
John Rawls led the Eagles with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Vashon Sims added 10 points, five boards and two blocks.
The Eagles still have several big matchups before district play begins, including against West Marion, Columbia, Jeff Davis County and Stone County.
“I want to see them have fun and continue to learn how good they are with each player and our potential as a team going forward,” Brown said. “I want to enjoy this non-district schedule and just enjoy the entire process of trying to construct a championship season.”
The Eagles played Jeff Davis on the road Tuesday night, but results were not available at press time and will be at West Marion Friday night.
Beginning next Thursday, the Eagles will host the East Marion Holiday Tournament, taking on Columbia after Jeff Davis plays Lawrence County. Brown said he’s excited about hosting the tournament and compared it to the Maui Invitational in college basketball, hosted by Chaminade.
“We’re fighting not to be Chaminade. They have that big national tournament every year, and they’re a Division II school,” he said. “They invite Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA and teams like that, and they sometimes go years without winning a single game in it. We have to man up and step up to the challenge to have a chance to win our own tournament.”
West Marion
After defeating Loyd Star 56-52 to begin the Enterprise Tournament last Monday, the Trojans played their only district game this side of Christmas last Tuesday at Seminary.
It was a high-scoring affair as the Bulldogs edged the Trojans 91-82, but Cyrus Thompson continued to have a breakout senior campaign with 30 points on 15-of-20 shooting from the field.
On Monday, the Trojans outlasted Bogue Chitto on the road to improve to 4-3 on the season with a 76-72 win. Stats were unavailable at press time.
The Trojans will host East Marion Friday night before participating in the Columbia Academy Holiday Tournament, beginning Dec. 27.
Head coach Mark Stringer could not be reached for comment.
Pictured Above: Caleb Rawls skies for a dunk in transition. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
