Coming off of a heartbreaking 60-58 loss to Bay Springs on a buzzer-beating shot to open the regular season, East Marion dusted off the cobwebs and showed why it is on the short list for state title contention in Class 1A this season during the Lawrence County Holiday Tournament at Rod Paige Middle School.
What was even more impressive than being the de facto winner of the tournament — it was not a true tournament format — was the way the Eagles did it, beating Wilkinson County and Wesson in two completely different games.
To begin the tournament Nov. 20, the Eagles found themselves in a sloppy game with Wilkinson County and proved they could win ugly in a wildly inefficient contest. The Eagles never allowed more than six points in a quarter and came away with a 40-19 win.
“It was just so sloppy and poorly played on both ends by both teams. The quality of play had more to do with the low scoring than the pace,” head coach Calvin Brown said. “We played in the middle school gym, which we weren’t accustomed to when we typically play in that tournament. It felt dreary in there, and we played how it felt in there and they did as well. We were fortunate to come out on top.”
While scoring only 40 points may seem like a red flag for the Eagles offense, they simply were battling in an ugly game in which they shot 43 percent from the field — not a high percentage but still not low either. Their shooting wasn’t the reason they only scored 40 points — it was their 13 turnovers to just nine assists, but they still won.
Freshman Vashon Sims led the way with 13 points, four boards, three steals and two blocks on the wing, while John Rawls finished with nine points and four rebounds. Senior Ja’Mario Marsalis, who is known for his three-point shot, struggled from the field, missing all five of his attempts from deep but found other ways to contribute with four assists and two steals.
Last Tuesday’s contest against Wesson was vastly different with a lot more efficiency and a lot more scoring, but again, the Eagles found a way to win 71-62.
John Rawls brushed off his 3-of-9 showing against Wilkinson County and poured in 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting with an eye-popping 21 rebounds — 13 offensive — and six blocks to lead the Eagles over the Cobras.
“He came up big. I was really impressed with the way he rebounded the ball,” Brown said. “His teammates did a good job of getting it to him, but he did a lot on putbacks.”
Marsalis rebounded from his poor shooting performance against Wilkinson County as well to drill four three-pointers and score 14 points, providing the spacing necessary to allow Rawls to go to work on the low block.
Sims had another impressive game, scoring 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
Another interesting development during the tournament was the emergence of another freshman — Caleb Rawls. A 6-foot-5 swingman and cousin of John Rawls, Caleb Rawls had eight points and four rebounds against Wilkinson County, and while he had just one point against Wesson, he contributed eight boards and three assists. If Sims and Caleb Rawls continue to develop on the wing for East Marion and provide added elements to the team as freshmen this season, it would only spell good news for the Eagles. What is an added benefit for the pair is that they’re not consumed during the fall by football like many of the Eagles players.
“It’s still very early, but they are potentially good basketball players. Physically at East, what we have is athletes that do it all and when they come to the gym, we try to teach them as much basketball as we can while we have our hands on them,” Brown said. “Those two seem to be pretty serious about basketball, and they play year round.”
With state title aspirations, the Eagles still have a lot of work left to do before they are ready for the big time.
“It was another baby step. We still have a long way to go. We’re still trying to get into shape. We’re still defining roles,” Brown said. “We’re still trying to implement some structure and all those things that comes with sharing athletes. We have to focus on the big picture and keep moving forward.”
The Eagles played their crosstown rival West Marion Tuesday night at home, but results were unavailable at press time. They will be on the road against another crosstown rival, Columbia, Friday at 6 p.m.
Pictured Above: John Rawls finished through contact against Mize last season. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
