As occurs frequently when they meet, the Marshall Statesmen and Wakefield Warriors played another of those low-scoring, physical boys basketball games that more closely resembled a hard-checking NHL playoff match.
Host Wakefield won the Jan. 13 Liberty District seesaw high-school contest, 35-34, when Marshall’s Osteen Fraser missed a baseline jump shot at the buzzer.
“I’m not sure why we won, but we set the stage early and did enough with our physical play and we figured it out. Then we survived Marshall runs like we knew were coming,” Wakefield coach Tony Bentley told FFXnow.
“Games like that are what you get between Marshall and Wakefield,” Bentley said. “The referees let them play a bit.”
Both teams shot poorly from the floor (Wakefield 29% and Marshall 33%). Wakefield led just 6-4 at the end of the first quarter and 17-10 at halftime. The Warriors were ahead 28-26 after three periods and led 35-30 with 4:59 left. Marshall scored to cut the lead to 35-34 with 3:25 to play, and neither team scored again.
“I think they took it to us physically at the start, but then we responded well to that and showed fight,” Marshall coach Jerry Lin said. “But we just didn’t shoot well enough. We were 2 of 14 on three-pointers and 4 of 9 on free throws. You can’t do both of those and still win.”
Wakefield took the lead for good at 32-30 on a running 10-foot bank-shot in the lane by Jeremiah Poole with 5:55 to play. The lead increased to 35-30 on a three-pointer by Antonio Posey. Two baskets by Marshall’s Trey Lonardo (nine points, four rebounds) cut the lead to 35-34 and ended the scoring.
Senior center Anderson Krisko had 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for Marshall, Wesley Ochsendorf had four points and six rebounds off the bench, and Jackson Fraser had two points and four assists.
Wakefield defeated Marshall 38-32 the previous time the teams met, with Marshall winning 48-32 the time before that.
