Chicks head to Hot Springs

By Marcus McClain

NEA Town Courier

Saturday’s semifinal against Farmington was one that will be talked about for years to come. The two teams shared a combined record of 68-1, and were both unbeaten against in-state competition.

Senior Rashaud Marshall forced two through the rim in Blytheville's semifinal win over Farmington. Marshall finished the game with 19 points.

The anticipation was stretched beyond the Arena with a line wrapped around the building, and the display on the court more than lived up to the hype.

The two sides exchanged body blows early, with the guards controlling the game. For Farmington, junior Layne Taylor directed the ship, scoring eight of their first 10 points. And for the Chicks, it was senior KeSean Washington settling the Chicks into the contest.

With the Cardinals ahead by three early, Washington connected from beyond the arc and drove coast to coast on the next play for an and-1 to put the Chicks ahead. He scored seven of his 16 points in the frame, as Blytheville carried a 13-11 edge into the second.

Blytheville would be without senior Shamar Marshall for much of the opening half however, due to foul trouble.

And to start the second quarter, Taylor found more of a rhythm from beyond the arc. He nailed two from deep to start as the Cardinal crowd went into a craze. But as the quarter continued, senior Rashaud Marshall began to put his imprint on the contest. Down by four, Marshall got inside for the hoop, plus the foul. And although he couldn’t tack on the free throw, he found something better. As the ball was batted around, Marshall recovered it and smashed home a two-handed slam that brought all of Chickasaw Nation out of their seats.

After being held scoreless in the first, Marshall went on to score 10 in the second alone to balance out the Blytheville offense. However, foul trouble continued to be an issue for the Chicks. Farmington found themselves in the bonus, and got to the line on multiple possessions consecutively.

Converting on 82 percent of their free throws in the half, the Cardinals carried a 33-29 advantage into the break.

“Our message [at the half] was very simple,” Blytheville head coach McKenzie Pierce said. “I said it before the game, rebound and win. It was all about rebounds and 50/50 balls. It was just about making things hard on [Taylor], rebound, play hard and win. I went in at halftime and said hey, ‘they beat us on the 50/50 balls and rebounds. So my message was the same. We did a lot better job in the second half and got it done. Shoutout to the crowd. Everybody in Blytheville showed up and made this a big time environment. We need to do it more often.”

Eliminating Farmington’s second chance points, turned into more opportunities for the Chicks and they made sure to convert. Junior Jeremiah Wells provided a boost by spreading the floor and nailing two triples in the third quarter. Senior TJ Jackson added a third in the final minutes to give Blytheville the lead for good, despite every effort from the Cardinals.

Defensively, senior Makai Handy forced Farmington into multiple turnovers as the game began to swing Blytheville’s way.

“We still have a few things we still need to fix on our defense, but we’re back where we want to be,” Rashaud Marshall said. “[At half], coach talked about keeping it between being up or down two points. We didn’t want to get down more than that. We knew what we needed to do.”

But ahead only one after the third, Blytheville’s defense reached a new peak with a trip to Hot Springs on the line.

They allowed only four points in the final frame, and ended the contest on a 11-0 run.

Ahead by 6 with just a minute and change left, Washington found room to slip through the teeth of the defense and add one of the final daggers in the Chicks’ victory.

“We were focused on holding them down and not letting them shoot threes. That, along with rebounding, and staying down on their pump fakes helped us get it down,” Washington said. Speaking to how he facilitates the offense, Washington added, “They may think I’m too little but I don’t worry about that. I don’t look down on myself. And my teammates are always ready to shoot the ball, so I find them.”

And as the buzzer sounded, Jackson added the ultimate exclamation point with a swinging two-handed jam to the delight of the maroon and white.

Speaking to the impact of the crowd, Rashaud Marshall added, “Chick Nation showed up for us and packed it out again today. And now we’re back in the final.”

Blytheville will move on to face a familiar opponent, Little Rock Christian on March 9 at 1:45. The game will serve as a rematch of the regional final where Blytheville prevailed, 62-59.