Both the East Marion boys and girls squads took a little trip last week to take part in the Lawrence County Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Eagles (1-4) picked up their first win in the tourney but saw their struggles continue. While East Marion made it to Jackson last season, it has been without several key pieces to begin the season because of football and injury and graduated two starters.
Regardless, though, head coach Calvin Brown has been less than pleased with the slow start.
“I’ve seen us turning the ball over more than we’ve shot it. Right now we have more turnovers than we have shot attempts this season,” he said. “It’s decision making at game speed; that’s the challenge right now. We need to know what to do with the ball in live action.”
The first win of the season came on the back of senior big man John Rawls, who led the Eagles to a 68-54 victory over Bay High School Nov. 19.
Rawls had 30 points on 15-of-20 shooting, 16 rebounds, eight blocks and three assists. Vashon Sims (12 points, eight rebounds, six assists five blocks, 11 deflections and three steals) and Caleb Rawls (13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks) also had great showings. However, the Eagles had an 18:26 assist-to-turnover ratio.
On the second day of the tournament, the Eagles found themselves in a slower-paced game with Wesson where turnovers were their downfall with fewer possessions. They had 25 turnovers to just nine assists and lost 39-36.
Sims had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals to leads the Eagles, followed by John Rawls, who had 12 points, nine boards and two blocks. Caleb Rawls had eight boards and five blocks despite scoring just two points.
Brown said he expects the return of Flenard McLin, Devin Daniels and Lawrence Lambert from football will help, but it won’t solve all of East Marion’s issues.
“It’s going to help settle people into their roles, but at the end of the day we’ve been playing with three solid kids on our team. So that’s not an excuse,” he said.
The Eagles played at West Marion Tuesday night (results unavailable at press time) before a much-anticipated matchup at Columbia Friday night. When the two squads met at Columbia at this time last season, McLin sank two free throws with one second on the clock for a 51-50 East Marion victory.
The Lady Eagles (3-2) had more success in the holiday tournament at Lawrence County, but it didn’t come easy. They beat Bay 22-21 Nov. 19 and Wesson 29-20 the following day.
The girls squad also made it to Jackson last season and reached the Final Four, but it has had a hard time putting the ball in the basket this season.
“The offense is anemic, and we only score when our defense produces points,” Brown said. “We’ve got to push tempo, but in order to do that we’ve got to play faster. In order to play faster, we have to start playing harder.”
Tytianna Porter was the sole source of offense in both games with 10 points and nine rebounds against Bay and 14 points and nine boards against Wesson.
The Lady Eagles will also take on Columbia Friday night after playing West Marion Tuesday.
Pictured Above: East Marion's Lia Smith fights through traffic to put up a shot against Stone Nov. 8. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
