McCracken, Murray advance into First Region title game

In what was another epic chapter of the growing McCracken County-Marshall County rivalry, Marshals students produced a fathead in honor of McCracken County’s Stacey McCune — mother of guards Ian and Jack. It did not have the desired effect, as the Mustangs rolled into the championship game, 58-29.
EDWARD MARLOWE | For Those Who Inquired

MURRAY, Ky. — Did a fathead of mom Stacey McCune in the Marshall County student section fire up McCracken County in Friday night’s First Region semifinal at the CFSB Center?
Hard to argue against it.
Stacey’s sons just had it going on against the Marshals, and coupled with a trampling defense, the Mustangs rolled into tonight’s championship game with a 58-29 gallop over their bitter rivals.
Older brother, Ian, led all scorers with 15 points — notching the first seven for McCracken County right out of the gate. Younger brother, Jack, had six points — four of them coming in a lopsided 24-10 second quarter in favor of the Mustangs.

More impressive than the McCune’s rollicking in all the attention, however, was the Burlin Brower bottling company on full display. The longtime McCracken County coach and his staff somehow drew up a plan that limited Marshall County to nine total field goals in 32 minutes.
Nine. And one of those field goals came with reserves in the game.
Marshals senior point guard and Western Kentucky signee Zion Harmon was the only one who could shake loose for double-digit scoring (12 points). But less than 72 hours removed from gigging Graves County for 37 points, six assists and six rebounds with five 3-pointers, the future Hilltopper had no wiggle room. He made a third of Marshall County’s baskets (three), and scored half of his total at the free throw line.
Tied at 12-all early in the second quarter after a steal-and-score from up-and-coming Marshall County point guard Cole Mills, McCracken County closed the half on a 21-5 run. Mustangs junior guard Ian Hart (11 points) buried all three of his 3-pointers in the stretch, while senior point guard Noah Dumas (14 points) closed the quarter just as he began it, canning a deep 3-pointer with a defender draped over him.
The Marshals nearly went the entire third quarter without a made basket, until Harmon’s steal-and-score cut it to 42-21.
Harmon’s final high school basket answered I. McCune to keep it at 46-23, but eight minutes of regulation wasn’t enough time for the Marshals — who only got 3-pointers from Cole Sedlock and Colby Schroader in the first half. He finishes with 2,760 career points in 114 games (24.2 ppg) with Bowling Green, Adair County and Marshall County.
The Mustangs face Murray tonight at 6, as the Tigers edged Paducah Tilghman 61-53.

Zion Harmon’s High School Scoring
Year GP 2PTM 3PTM FTM PTS PPG
2020-21 (Sr.) Harmon, Zion 15 90 38 41 335 22.3
2019-20 (Jr.) Harmon, Zion 31 186 95 131 788 25.4
2017-18 (Fr.) Harmon, Zion 31 228 115 213 1014 32.7
2016-17 (8th) Harmon, Zion 37 122 76 151 623 16.4
Totals: 114 626 324 536 2,760 24.2

MCCRACKEN COUNTY 58, MARSHALL COUNTY 29

Mustangs (21-6) 9 24 11 14 — 58
Marshals (12-10) 7 10 4 8 — 29
MUSTANGS: Ian McCune 15, Noah Dumas 14, Ian Hart 11, Jack McCune 6, Brant Brower 4, Max Blackwell 4, Gavin Etherton 2, Jack Bradley 2.
FGM: 19. 3PTM: 6 (Hart 3, Dumas 2, I. McCune). FT: 12-17. PF: 16.
MARSHALS: Zion Harmon 12, Cole Sedlock 5, Colby Schroader 3, Riley Smith 3, Quinn Smith 2, Cole Mills 2, Hunter Wallace 2.
FGM: 9. 3PTM: 2 (Sedlock, Schroader). FT: 9-13. PF: 17.

Murray’s Trey Boggess (3) defends against Paducah Tilghman’s Jackson Goodwin during the second half of the 2021 First Region semifinals at the CFSB Center. Boggess scored six points in the final two minutes, as the Tigers edged out a 61-53 win.
EDWARD MARLOWE | For Those Who Inquired

Murray closes late against Tilghman

MURRAY, Ky. — Murray is headed back to the First Region championship game for the first time since 2016, courtesy of some elite 3-point shooting in a 61-53 win over Paducah Tilghman in Friday’s semifinal matinee.
The Tigers went 10-for-18 from the arc against the Blue Tornado, getting five from the game’s top scorer in senior guard Gabe Taylor (17 points) and three from junior guard/forward Trey Boggess (nine points) — who buried two in the final two minutes of regulation in the clutch.
Down 9-3 early in the first quarter after senior guard Eli Brown’s jumper, Murray closed the frame on a 16-7 run — powered by three Taylor triples. His third one came at the top of the key on a bank shot at the buzzer, and gave Murray it’s first lead of the game.
Two free throws from sophomore forward Lincoln English had the Tigers up 26-20 when the Blue Tornado closed the half on an 11-5 run — with Jackson Goodwin answering Grant Whitaker’s right-corner triple with one of his own at the buzzer.
Three quarters wasn’t enough for these teams to find separation, either, as Brown’s 3-pointer and Tragen Arthur’s 3-pointer sandwiched free throws from Charqwan McCallister to tie it 44-all.
But after a Brian Thomas rainbow 3-pointer tied the game at 52-all, Murray finished once again — using an 8-1 run to win it. Whitaker’s fourth assist led to a Boggess triple from the left elbow for a 57-53 lead, and McCallister’s fifth steal — this one against Brown at the top of the key — iced it. And Whitaker made four consecutive free throws in the closing seconds as insurance.
For Tilghman, it was a tough break. The Blue Tornado ended up having to play without a key senior big man in Camdon Marshall, who went down with an undisclosed leg injury late in the first quarter. And they forced the Tigers into 17 turnovers — 12 in the first half — but couldn’t manufacture a lead larger than two possessions.
That’s a credit to Murray, which outrebounded Paducah Tilghman 26-20 and also connected on 11-for-13 from the stripe — despite shooting just 66% from the stripe as a team on the season.
Now, the Tigers face the defending-champion Mustangs for a trip to Rupp Arena and the Sweet 16. The two teams played once this season, in what was a 51-37 defeat for Murray on Feb. 8 at Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena in Paducah. Boggess scored 10 points and the Tigers shot 45.5% from the field, but were just 2-for-8 from the arc while the Mustangs shot 18-for-38 (47.4%) from the field, and 12-for-15 from the stripe. I. McCune had 18 points, while Dumas and Hart each had 12.

MURRAY 61, PADUCAH TILGHMAN 53

Tigers (17-7) 19 12 13 17 — 61
Blue Tornado (18-6) 16 15 13 9 — 53
TIGERS: Gabe Taylor 17, Charqwan McCallister 16, Grant Whitaker 15, Trey Boggess 9, Lincoln English 4.
FG: 20-36. 3PT: 10-18 (Taylor 5, Boggess 3, Whitaker, McCallister). FT: 11-13. PF: 7. Reb: 26. Ast: 13. Stl: 8. Blk: 2. TO: 17.
BLUE TORNADO: Mian Shaw 13, Eli Brown 12, Tragen Arthur (Keyes) 11, Jackson Goodwin 5, Landon Fitzgerald 5, Brian Thomas 5, Camdon Marshall 2.
FG: 20-48. 3PT: 9-26 (Arthur 3, Brown 2, Shaw, Goodwin, Fitzgerald, Thomas). FT: 4-6. PF: 16. Reb: 20. Ast: 9. Stl: 6. Blk: 1. TO: 11.