Marion鈥檚 late basket lifts Rockets over Avella
JEFFERSON 鈥� Dayten Marion鈥檚 basket with 30 seconds remaining lifted host Jefferson-Morgan to a thrilling 55-53 win over Avella in boys basketball non-section game on Jan. 23.
Jefferson-Morgan trailed 30-23 at halftime and 49-44 midway through the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer by the Eagles鈥� Brayden Fuller but outscored Avella 11-4 the rest of the way.
鈥淚t was a fastbreak and Dayten ran the floor, our guards got it to our bigs like we emphasize,鈥� J-M coach Brandon Lawless said of the winning shot. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an athlete and around the rim with his height he鈥檚 tough to stop.鈥�
Bryce Wright鈥檚 potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer rattled out for Avella which fell to 8-9 overall.
鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 have come down to that really,鈥� said Avella coach Mike Macik. 鈥淟osing our big guy (Cain Allen, who fell ill) at halftime didn鈥檛 help us. We didn鈥檛 rebound well and that was the biggest part of the game. That鈥檚 what beat us.鈥�
Marion led Jefferson-Morgan with a game-high 23 points along with 14 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. John Woodward Jr. added 11 points and eight boards. The Rockets also got 10 rebounds from Jace Bedilion.
Rylan Bell led the Eagles with a career-high 16 points and Wright added 14 points with three 3-pointers for the Eagles. Avella also got a double-double from Westley Burchianti who scored 10 points and tied for game-high honors with 14 rebounds although the Rockets won the overall battle on the glass, 38-34, with 17 offensive boards.
Lawless praised the effort of his team which also played Monday night, winning at Geibel Catholic.
鈥淚t鈥檚 generally a lot tougher playing on the second night when you鈥檙e going back-to-back and we鈥檙e not that deep, but they played with a lot of intensity tonight, especially in the second half,鈥� said Lawless, who also commended the Rockets鈥� defense.
鈥淒efense is our bread and butter because, to be truthful, we鈥檙e below average offensively. I tell these boys all the time if you play good defense you鈥檙e giving yourself a chance to win every night no matter what you do offensively.鈥�
The Rockets followed up the win over the Eagles with a 66-58 Section 2-A victory at Mapletown last Friday.
J-M held a one-point lead at halftime and outscored the Maples in the second half, 38-31, to secure the win and keep its lock on third place in the section standings.
The Rockets鈥� Bedilion (19), Houston Guesman (17), and Marion (16) all scored in double figures.
Jeremiah Mick scored a game-high 20 points for Mapletown (1-5, 2-13). A.J. Vanata finished with 14 points.
Jefferson-Morgan (4-2, 12-6) entered the week trailing first-place Monessen and West Greene by one game while holding a one-game lead over fourth-place California.
The Rockets were slated to host Monessen Tuesday night and will host the Trojans Friday night in two important section clashes.