Pats take talents out west for Tarkanian Classic

No breaks for Marion basketball boys over holidays By Tyler Bennett

Marion School District Marion basketball impressed scouts on a national stage this past week. The Patriots played four games in front of several Division 1 schools in the Tarkanian Classic in “Fabulous” Las Vegas, Nevada.

Every team the Patriots played this week was ranked in their respective states, but all of the games were close and very well could have resulted in Patriot wins.

Marion coach David Clark said he was proud of the way the team played and the trip would help them later in the season.

“This was a big learning experience for these guys,” Clark said. “Our guys learned a lot about themselves. We learned a lot about ourselves as a team. This is only going to help us going forward.”

Marion started the week on Wednesday, Dec. 18 against the Westchester Comets from Los Angeles, California. The Pats started slow and had to comeback from a big lead in the first half, but managed to take the Comets to double overtime. A communication error prevented the Pats from having a scheduled shoot-around prior to the first game, so with limited warmup time the game strategy changed from finding jump shots to working in the paint around the rim. The play down low gave the Pats many opportunities from the charity stripe, but the Pats could not capitalize.

Marion missed seventeen free throws in the 66-65 loss.

The next game for the Pats was Thursday against the number thirteen team overall in Maryland, the Riverdale Baptist Crusaders. The Crusaders had a big size advantage over the Pats, but Marion’s shot finally began to fall.

The low scoring, defensive game favored the Crusaders, who were in the double bonus before the midway point of the second half. Marion had the ball with under a minute, but was unable to get a clean shot off, giving the Crusaders a 55-54 victory. Marion’s third game was another competitive one against the Fairfax (CA) Lions that one could argue should have gone the Pats’ way. However, the difference in the game was Fairfax’s three-point shooting and enough chicanery from the officials to confuse and anger fans of both teams.

The two teams went back and forth with the lead in the first half, where the Patriots did most of their damage again in the paint. Both teams had to deal with foul trouble early because of multiple double foul and technical fouls against the two teams.

The Lions led 61-59 with three and a half minutes to go when Marion was hit with several questionable foul calls. Marion fought hard to overcome the fouls, but Fairfax’s last ten points came from the free throw line in their 71-67 victory.

Marion’s final opponent in their trip to the Mojave desert was the Coronado (NV) Cougars. Coronado High School is located in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas just twenty five minutes away from the game site and the Cougar fans traveled very well to the game.

Coronado controlled the pace of the game from the tip, but the frustrated Pats would not go away.

Marion finally started making three pointers, including two each from senior Detrick Reeves and freshman Jayden Forrest.

Coronado’s crowd may have given them the boost they needed just before the break. The Cougars led by four with two minutes left in the first half before a three-point play for Coronado reignited the crowd. The Cougars led 41-34 at halftime.

The Pats never quit, despite the odds stacked against them. Marion scored a near season-high point total against Nevada’s Class 4A runner-ups, but the Cougars just had too many offensive weapons in their 90-75 victory.

“These were some tough teams, some of the toughest in the country,” Clark said. “We can’t get our heads down because we lost some games. We’ve got nothing to hang our heads about.”

Up next for the Pats is the Camden Fairview Holiday Classic on Friday, December 27 against the El Dorado Wildcats (2-4).

Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 pm.