Jan 4, 2025
Marietta’s Jacey McKnight (12) attacks the basket during Friday’s game against Athens at Sutton Gym. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
MARIETTA — You can’t win them all until you win the first 11.
The Marietta Tigers stretched their perfect season to the halfway point Friday night with a 71-54 win over the Athens Bulldogs at Sutton Gymnasium.
Senior Leigha Lauer led three Tigers in double figures with 24 points as Marietta pulled away late to down an Athens team that came into the game with just one loss.
The Tigers jumped out to a 16-12 lead at the end of the first period and looked like they were going to pull away from Athens in the second period when they went on a 10-3 run to open up a double-digit lead.
Senior Alyssa Baker opened the quarter with a two-pointer for the Tigers and after a triple by Quinn Banks, Tiger freshman Kendall VanderWal knocked down the first of what would be a four-triple game to give MHS a six-point lead.
Marietta’s Alyssa Baker (1) goes up for a shot during Friday’s game against Athens at Sutton Gym. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
Lauer scored three points the old fashioned way and followed that up with a strong drive to the bucket to give Marietta a 26-15 lead.
The Bulldogs chipped away a bit at the Tiger lead, but a floater by senior Jacey McKnight pushed the lead back to 11 with less than three minutes to play in the half.
McKnight scored seven points in the first half but it was her three steals on defense that sparked the Tigers.
“Jacey (McKnight) is our best defender and she really gets after you,” said Tiger head coach Ryan McClain. “Every game she is going to be on the best player no matter their size and she is going to hound and hassle them. She just works so hard.”
Athens had a size advantage under the bucket with 6-foot-1 Alexis Koopal and were able to take advantage as she scored a pair of buckets in the closing minute of the second quarter to trim the Tiger lead to seven (33-26) at the break.
The Bulldogs went right back to work in the third quarter and quickly closed the Tiger lead to three an a two-pointer by Ella Chapman.
Athens managed to hang with the Tigers through the bulk of the third quarter and trailed by just four with 90 seconds to play before the Tigers caught fire.
Lauer scored 11 of her points in the third quarter, including a two-pointer to stretch the lead to six, and McKnight followed with a rebound and putback basket to increase the lead to 47-39.
“They tried to take our shooters away and they were switching everything so we knew we were going to get some mismatches with Leigha,” said McClain. “Leigha took full advantage of it and had another great game again tonight.”
After a two-pointer by Olivia Short, McKnight canned a three-pointer and junior Hayleigh Chidester closed out the quarter for the Tigers with a two-pointer to give the the white and orange a 10-point cushion heading to the final quarter.
“We challenged them at halftime because Athens is gritty and get after things and muck things up and it was the type of game that we were going to have to battle for 32 minutes,” said McClain. “The girls really stepped it up in the third quarter.”
A VanderWal triple stretched the lead to 11 early in the fourth but Athens answered with four consecutive points by Chapman.
An inside bucket by Tiger sophomore Braxtyn Kroft pushed the lead to nine before Marietta got back-to-back triples from Baker and then VanderWal to push the lead to 15 with just four minutes to play.
Four points by Chidester and four free throws down the stretch by Lauer was more than enough to keep Athens at bay as the Tigers notched victory No. 11 on the season.
“I just love this team and appreciate the effort they keep giving us,” said McClain. “Athens has a great team and it took a great effort.”
Lauer scored her 24 points on just 12 shots from the field as she made 6-of-7 from the charity stripe to go along with 9-of-12 from the floor.
VanderWal played like anything but a freshman as she tossed in 14 points while also grabbing six boards.
“Kendall continues to step up and she gets better and better every game,” said McClain of his freshman point guard.
McKnight finished with a dozen while also coming up with three steals while Baker and Chidester finished with eight and seven points, respectively.
The game would be the final one of the season for Chidester, who was only eligible to compete in the half of the games this season after transferring to Marietta from Warren.
McClain will look to Kroft and others to fill the role that Chidester had played so well in her first 11 games in the black and orange.
“It’s really going to hurt to lose Hayleigh (Chidester) after this game because she has been such a big part of our team,” said McClain. “Braxtyn is improving every game and tonight she really rebounded well in the second half.”
Athens was led by Asa Holcombe, who completed a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards while also leading her team with three assists and four steals.
Chapman also scored 12 for the Bulldogs (8-2) while Banks and Smart reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Koopal just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
With half of the season in the books, McClain loves what he has seen so far in his team.
“I love every kid we have on this team because they are so selfless and work so well together,” he said.
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