Before the start of the season, Marietta Indians’ Head Coach Kenny Barnes predicted a tough season, with a team that features far more freshmen and sophomores than upper classmen, and Barnes wasn’t wrong – but his team is hanging tough despite the odds being stacked against them.
The team’s first three games back from a lengthy Christmas break were in the Davis Tournament, which was played January 4, 5, and 6, and is typically stacked with talented teams.
In Thursday’s first round game, the Indians faced the Dibble Demons, who proved to be a little too much for them. Although Marietta led 14-12 after one quarter, in the second, Dibble outscored the Indians 14-6 to take a 28-20 halftime lead, one that the Indians were not able to overcome.
Aedan Elison led scoring for the Indians with 24 points, six of those points from three-pointers. He was three-for-four from the free throw line.
The 57-47 loss sent the Indians to the consolation bracket where they faced Ringling on Friday.
Marietta took the lead after the first quarter, 16-9, and continued to outscore the Blue Devils in the second to stretch their lead to 28-16 at the half. The Indians continued to overpower Ringling in both the third and fourth quarters and coasted to a 56-31 win to send them to the consolation championship game.
Elison again led scoring with 14 points, six from beyond the three-point line. Tucker Kirk had 13 points in the victory.
In that final round, Marietta faced a powerful Little Axe team. The Indians fell behind 15-11 in the first quarter before bouncing back to outscore Little Axe 16-14 and close the gap, going into the locker room at halftime down only two points, 29-27.
Both teams scored 14 points in the third quarter, but in the fourth, Little Axe began to pull away from the Indians, winning the game 70-52.
Elison led scoring with 20 points. Kirk had 11 points, going two-for-two from the free throw line.
“Elison continued to play well, averaging 20 points per game through the tournament, and Kirk has also picked up his scoring,” said Barnes. “We’re still struggling to play defense for four quarters and to find some depth with most of the team being freshmen.
“Toward the end of the Little Axe game, we looked gassed after having a long break and playing three straight days coming back, but we have all week to fix that before our next game. We’re 6-8 and are in a better position than we were at this time last year, despite being very young. These guys are battling every night, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”