EAST ALTON - The Marquette Catholic High School Explorers boys basketball team earned what seemed to be an easy victory in Friday night’s game against the East Alton-Wood River High School Oilers.
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During the 70-34 blowout, the Explorers held offensive command over the team throughout the evening.
“We had some guys shooting the ball with confidence,” Marquette coach Steve Medford said, “and when you have guys shooting, especially from the perimeter, it obviously opens a lot more up. We got into the zone from there.
“It was a good effort defensively. We didn’t come down to their level and kept the intensity up. I thought the guys did really good and responded well.”
The Oilers couldn’t seem to lock down some of their key shots that could have kept them alive in the first half instead of falling quickly behind their opponents.
“That Boone kid is a heck of a ball player,” Oilers Coach Kyle Duncan said. “We tried to do the same thing that we did a couple of years ago against Lavender since we had some success with that. It worked for a little bit, but we made some mistakes but then it kind of fell out after the first four minutes.”
Oilers senior Blake Marks kicked off the night with a three-pointer for his team. Unfortunately, this was EAWR’s only scoring play in the period due to the undying defense from Marquette.
Senior Trey Aguirre knocked in a three-pointer himself to start off the Explorers’ long offensive push. Senior Ben Sebacher landed a basket and on a rebound, junior Nick Messinger brought in two.
After a timeout for the Oilers, sophomore Reagan Snider swooshed in two back-to-back three-pointers.
Another timeout was called for the Oilers before senior Shandon Boone brought in his first standard shot for the night. Right after, he was able to knock in a three-pointer and yet another basket to close out the score at 21-3 at the end of the first.
In the second, Aguirre was first to the basket with a three-pointer for Marquette. A foul on Marks allotted the Oilers one free point. Boone scored a basket before a foul on freshman Nick Hemann earned him two from the foul line.
Freshman Trenton Darr knocked in a basket for the Oilers before a series of fouls and technicals allowed Boone to shoot six back-to-back undefended free shots. Boone earned six points from this stretch before Snider was fouled upon and gained one himself.
Freshman Chris Hartrich scored his first and only play of the evening to bring in three more for the Explorers. After his play, Hemann knocked in another two-point shot before a foul earned him one more point.
Sebacher locked down his first basket of the quarter to bring the score to 43-6, a huge lead for the Explorers.
Attempting to bring their offense back to life, sophomore Hunter Hall was fouled upon and earned two from the line. Sebacher knocked in one more basket before Hall was allowed two more from free throws to close out the second quarter with a score of 45-10 in the Explorers’ favor.
To start the third, Marks earned a point from the foul line. Messinger knocked in a two-point shot before another foul was called upon Marks to allow him one more. Boone locked down yet another basket for the night before Marks knocked in a three-pointer to bring the Oilers’ offense back to life, bringing the score to 49-15.
A basket scored by Sebacher and another basket by Boone pushed the Explorers’ score to 53. Another three-pointer by Marks brought the Oilers’ score to 18.
Wearing down the Oilers’ defense, Boone was able to take a clear shot to knock in three.
A foul on sophomore Justin Englar allowed him two points from the line to bring EAWR’s score to 20 before Sebacher knocked in another basket.
Englar earned two more points on a foul before Erving knocked in a basket for Marquette. In the last play of the third quarter, senior Tim Derrington locked in two points to bring the score to 62-22 in Marquette’s favor.
Although they were not doing the best offensively, the Oilers truthfully didn’t give up, especially as the Explorers’ score kept growing and growing in the fourth quarter.
Senior Cody Blacklock was able to knock in a basket for two before Heeman scored a two-point shot himself. Hall locked down another two-pointer for the Oilers.
Marks scored his last three-point shot of the night to bring EAWR’s score to 29.
A foul on Hemann allowed him two points shot from the line to further Marquette’s score. Then, on a rebound shot, junior Duncan McLain got in on the action to bring in two.
Marks arrived at the foul line for the last time and contributed one more to the Oilers.
Hemann knocked in his last basket for Marquette. Shortly afterward, senior Luke Wells brought in two baskets in a row to bring the score to 70-34 at the final buzzer, allowing Marquette to take the victory.
Boone scored 23 points throughout three periods of play for the Explorers. Hemann was able to contribute 11 points between the second and fourth quarters. Sebacher knocked in a basket in the first and two each in the third and fourth for 10 points total. Throughout the first and second periods, Snider brought in seven points. Aguirre scored six while Messinger could bring in four points. Hartrich brought in three points and Erving, Derrington and McLain could each bring in two.
For the Oilers, Marks led the pack with 16 points. Both Englar and Wells were able to bring in six points each. Hall was able to lock down four points and Blacklock brought in two points.
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