(Greenfield) Martensdale-St. Mary’s knocked home seven 2nd half three’s to stay undefeated with a 63-54 boys basketball win at Nodaway Valley on Thursday. Trey Baker led the way for the 3rd rated Blue Devils with 18 points.
Nodaway Valley closed within two points of Martensdale-St. Marys early in the third quarter and had it at a one possession game going into the 4th. They held a team that had averaged 87.5 points per game to just 26 in the first half. Nodaway Valley got 16 points from Avery Phillippi and 15 out of Toby Bower in the loss.
The visitors overcame a 5-3 deficit with nine straight points early in the game. They never trailed after that and survived their first tight contest of the year. Prior to Thursday, their average margin of victory was at 47.7 points. Nodaway Valley fell behind 26-13 midway through the second quarter, but closed the gap to five with an 8-0 finish to the half.
A Nodaway Valley three-pointer early in the 3rd quarter cut the deficit to 26-24, but Baker and Carson Elbert teamed up for eight quick points. On consecutive possessions Baker hit a three, Elbert drove in for a layup, and Elbert buried a three. Quickly it was back to a 34-24 Martensdale-St. Marys lead. Bower’s 8/8 free-throw shooting in the 2nd half was a big factor in Nodaway Valley hanging around. The home squad also got some timely three’s from Boston DeVault along with his penetration setting up teammates. With a strong push at the end of the third, they were within 45-42 heading into the final eight minutes.
Martensdale-St. Mary’s took good care of the basketball and got three’s from Elbert, Hogan Franey, Derek Kleve, and Baker in the second half to help preserve the win. They went 6/7 from the free-throw line down the stretch. Baker, JT Archibald, and Troy Holt did a good job controlling the boards which proved to be a big boost. In addition to 18 points from Baker, Jack Franey scored 12, Carson Elbert 10, Hogan Franey nine, and JT Archibald eight.
Nodaway Valley co-head coach James Larson takes some good things away from it. “We have to be encouraged. We didn’t want a moral victory tonight, but it was the #3 team in the state and we had it within three points.”
At the same time, it was an opportunity that slipped away. “They made a few plays, we didn’t. It was right there. I’m happy with how we played, but I felt like we had a few mental errors where we didn’t identify some shooters in the 2nd half. They hit seven three’s in the second half and I felt like that was kind of the difference.” Larson very candidly summed up his comments to the players in the locker room afterwards, “To be honest I told them I was really upset because I thought we should have had this one.”
