Chicks beat THS for 14th straight

The Blytheville Chicksaws (20-3, 11-0) are still perfect in the new year and marked their 14th straight win Friday night in a 62-35 win over Trumann (4-15, 1-9).

Blytheville opened the contest exploiting their size advantage in the paint. But as the game progressed, their perimeter shooting became a key factor as well. Five different Chicks connected from long range as the team finished with eight made three-pointers.

“We scored 62 points and they held the ball, that’s hard,” BHS head coach McKenzie Pierce said. “It’s hard to score 62 in a fast paced game. I feel like if we hit seven plus three in a game, we’re probably not going to lose. The thing is we take good shots. We’ll work it until we get a drive and kick and then they’re easier shots.”

He added, “And if they take two off Rashaud (Marshall), then we can get it to him and he’s shooting nearly 77 percent from the field. I just like how we’re playing together for the most part. We’re playing very efficient basketball over the last seven or eight games and shooting around 60 percent from the floor as a team and that’s hard to do. It just speaks to good ball movement.”

Senior Camron Jones opened things up from the outside early, converting on two attempts. His second came within the final minute of the quarter, prepeling Blytheville to a 14-6 lead heading into the second.

After a long strcamble for possession early in the second, sophomore Travis Anderson converted an and-1 inside to give Blytheville their first double digit lead. Shortly after Marshall climbed the ladder for one of his four slams following an offensive rebound. This stretched Blytheville’s lead to 13 points and forced a Trumann timeout.

However, the short break couldn’t stall any of the Chicks’ momentum. Near midcourt, Marshall poked the ball free for a steal and finished the play with another slam.

“Big fella’ can move his feet when he wants to, he can get out there and guard,” Pierce said. “I didn’t think it was our best defensive effort tonight, but when we’re locked in and guarding we’re tough. We want to get up and pressure but we also do a good job of helping, recovering and stunning. I think we stunt, help and recover as well as anybody in the state when we want to.”

The Chicks displayed that defense by holding the Wildcats to single digit scoring in three of the four quarters. They held a 30-14 advantage going into the halftime break.

Still, the Wildcats climbed back into the game early in the third. They used a 9-2 run to cut Blytheville’s lead to single digits. After a Chicks’ timeout, junior Makai Handy used a floater in the lane to get Blytheville back on track. Sophomore Jeremiah Wells used a three-pointer late in the third to put the Chicks back ahead 38-23 going into the fourth.

They went on to outscore Trumann 25-12 in the final frame.

Marshall finished the game with a game-high 19 points, along with nine for Jones. Blytheville’s next matchup will come Feb. 1 as they travel to Pocahontas.