Marysville’s Jacob Ranker (left) stops a drive to the basket by Hilliard Darby’s Chandler Barlow Thursday evening. The Monarchs fell, 63-60.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Basketball coaches want to see the two “E’s” – effort and execution – from their team every time they are on the floor.
When it comes to the effort department, Marysville High School boys coach Ryan Grose gave his squad a “B-plus” during Thursday evening’s season-opening 63-60 loss at Hilliard Darby.
When it comes to execution, the marks were lower, coming in at a “D-plus.”
“Our offense stumbled a bit,” said Grose. “Darby did a lot of switching on defense and we didn’t adapt to it.”
The Monarchs (who will travel to Marion Harding for a Saturday afternoon game) also had trouble keeping up with the Panthers’ accuracy from beyond the three-point arc during the opening quarter.
Darby got trifectas from Ben Gbur, Kyle Miller, Chandler Barlow and Andrew Patrick during the initial eight minutes.
The Panthers held a 19-10 lead with 11.5 seconds left in the quarter.
Jarrett Karnes swished his own three-ball, pulling MHS to within 19-13 at the horn.
Darby held six and seven-point advantages during the first portion of the second period.
To their credit, the Monarchs kept up the fight.
“I liked the way we responded when some things went wrong,” said Grose. “We continued to fight throughout the game and that gave us a chance to win.”
A pass from Jack Christian resulted in Bodie Eberhart’s bucket that pulled Marysville to within 24-19.
Karnes then scored to narrow the gap to 24-21.
Christian, a freshman, made his next two baskets, including a three-pointer that pulled the Monarchs to within 28-26.
Eberhart’s pull-up jumper with 1:06 on the timer knotted the game at 28.
Eberhart’s backdoor pass to Jacob Ranker resulted in a layup that sent MHS into the turn with a 30-29 edge.
The Panthers pretty much abandoned the perimeter game for buckets in the paint or on the low blow during the second half.
The Monarchs got trifectas to fall from Marshall Francisco, Grant Colopy and Christian as they battled to a 40-39 edge.
At that point, Darby’s Jalen Benjamin went against the world, scoring six quick points. As such, the Panthers regained a 44-43 lead with slightly less than two minutes left in the quarter.
Barlow scored on a stickback and drove the baseline for a basket that opened a 48-43 margin that the Panthers took into the fourth quarter.
Darby opened up a 50-43 lead when Brice Stultz glided across the lane.
Buckets from Christian and Karnes, however, reduced the gap to 50-47.
Marysville kept fighting and eventually tied the score at 57 on baskets from Eberhart, Karnes and Christian.
Eberhart returned a 60-59 edge to the Monarchs when he scored on the baseline and hit a free throw that came along with the play.
Benjamin’s charity tosses with 43.1 ticks on the timer flip-flopped the score in favor of the Panthers.
A handful of possession exchanges ensued, but the fouls began to mount for the Monarchs.
Stultz hit a free throw for a 62-60 Darby lead.
Eberhart and Karnes picked up their fourth personals during that stretch.
Francisco fouled out when he collided with Stulz on a rebound with 0.3 seconds to play.
The long walk to the other end of the floor resulted in a free throw that provided the Panthers’ margin of victory.
Christian, playing in his first varsity game, led the Monarchs with 16 points.
“Jack is on varsity for a reason,” said Grose. He’s a good scorer and we’re going to rely on him to make shots.
“He just needs to continue to learn what good shots are and to continue to get better defensively.”
Eberhart and Karnes each added 13 points.
Hilliard Darby
Stultz 7-3-17, Benjamin 4-6-14, Barlow 5-0-12, Gbur 4-0-9, Gearhiser 2-1-5, Miller 1-0-3, Patrick 1-0-3, Govine 0-0-0. Totals 24-10-63.
Three-point goals: Barlow 2, Gbur 1, Miller 1, Patrick 1.
Marysville
Christian 7-0-16, Karnes 6-0-13, Eberhart 5-3-13, Francisco 3-0-7, Ranker 2-2-6, Colopy 1-0-3, Hughes 1-0-2. Totals 25-5-60.
Three-point goals: Christian 2, Karnes 1, Francisco 1, Colopy 1.
Darby won both the junior varsity and freshman games.
The Panthers took the JV contest, 43-33.
Spencer Mills led the Jr. Monarchs with 10 points.
The MHS frosh dropped a 53-51 verdict.
Ryan Kern led the Monarchs with 13 points, while Nick Kessler and Christian Colvin each tallied 12.