Marshall Girls, McCracken Boys Advance to State

The two teams with “unfinished business” last season will have a chance to get the job done, as the Marshall County Lady Marshals and the McCracken County Mustangs both won 1st Region championships and advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive season.

Both the Lady Marshals and the Mustangs had their state tournament experiences canceled last March due to COVID-19 before they could ever begin. The Lady Marshals were literally in the locker room waiting for their opening round matchup with Henderson County when the KHSAA was forced to cancel both the girls and boys state tournaments.

Saturday's boys championship was tight throughout. The Mustangs' stellar defense carried them across the finish line after being down 11 early and rallied to the 45-40 win over Murray.

Murray came out strong, shooting over 80% in the opening period and 60% in the first half to open an 11-point lead, but the Mustangs scored the final six points of the half to cut Murray’s halftime lead to 25-19.

McCracken County’s defense then took over, holding Murray to just five points in the 3rd quarter and just four field goals in the second half.

Mustang senior Noah Dumas finished with a game high 12 points. McCracken County senior Ian McCune chipped in 10, Ian Hart had 8 and Brant Brower had 7 points.

Murray’s Gabe Taylor led the Tigers with 11 points including three first half 3-pointers. Trey Boggess and Charqwan McCallister each had 8 points for Murray.

McCracken County (22-6) will play Bullitt East (15-8) in the opening round of the boys KHSAA Sweet 16 State Tournament Thursday at 1pm. You can listen to the game on 99.5FM The Fan.


2021 All-Tournament Team
Joey Fosko MVP: Ian McCune (McCracken)

All-Tournament team members: Noah Dumas (McCracken), Zion Harmon (Marshall), Grant Whitaker (Murray), Eli Brown (Paducah Tilghman), Charqwan McCallilster (Murray), Ian Hart (McCracken), Gabe Taylor (Murray), Mason Grant (Graves), Mian Shaw (Paducah Tilghman), Colby Kennemore (Mayfield), Riley Smith (Marshall)



The Lady Marshals used lockdown defense to propel themselves to the 1st Region title for the second season in a row, defeating McCracken County 49-21 on Saturday afternoon.

The slow-paced first half saw the Lady Marshals leading 9-4 after the opening quarter and 21-6 at the half. But a couple of 3-pointers by Jada Driver and Layne Pea propelled the third quarter scoring for the Lady Marshals in route to their win.

The Lady Marshall defensive pressure was a tall task to handle for the young Lady Mustangs, who have zero seniors on the roster.

The Lady Marshals had balanced scoring throughout. Cayson Conner continued her brilliant senior season for Marshall County leading all scorers with 15 points. Halle Langhi had 11 points, Layne Pea had 8 points, and Presley Jezik had 8 points.

Marshall County (22-2) will play in the opening round of the girls Sweet 16 State Tournament Thursday, April 8th at 10 a.m. against the 15th Region champion.


2021 All-Tournament Team
Joey Fosko MVP: Cayson Conner (Marshall)

All-Tournament team members: Hallie Langhi (Marshall), Claire Johnson (McCracken), Elle Carson (Calloway), Avery Myatt (Graves), Skylar Waller (Calloway), Mikee Buchanan (McCracken), Jada Driver (Marshall), Ellie Carter (Graves), Nealey Jackson (Graves), Caroline Sivills (McCracken), Sophie Galloway (Marshall)



2nd  Region Scores

Boys Championship
UHA 63, Madisonville 61

Girls Semifinals
Henderson County 77, Madisonville 51