Marissa-Coulterville overcame a slow start, stuck around and pulled off a late run to upset rival New Athens 58-50 Monday night in the quarterfinal round of the New Athens 1A boys basketball regional.
“New Athens kicked our tail three times this year, I don’t know how much more motivation our guys needed,” said Marissa-Coulterville coach Dirk Miller. “This was a huge win for this program. It’s been a long time since we beat New Athens. The guys are pumped up.”
The Meteors were anything but pumped up to start the game. New Athens made 8-of-13 shots in the first quarter including its first five shots of the game for a 10-2 lead. The early home cooking led to the Yellowjackets claiming an 18-9 lead at the end of the opening period.
Marissa-Coulterville was just 3-of-16 from the field in the period and Clint Runyon scored all nine points for his team.
New Athens opened up the second quarter with a 6-0 scoring run for a commanding 24-9 advantage. However, New Athens’ momentum was quickly lost as the team missed their next 10 shots and ended the half on the wrong end of an 11-4 run.
Despite shooting less than 24 percent from the floor (8-of-34) in the first half, the Meteors trailed by just eight points, 28-20, at the break.
While Joey Smith, Marissa-Coulterville’s top scorer, was held to just two points in the first half, he broke out in the third quarter, scoring 12 points to lead his team back into the game.
The Meteors, behind Smith, outscored New Athens 18-12 in the quarter to trail only 40-38 heading into the fourth.
Trailing 46-44, Runyon nailed back-to-back three-pointers to spark an 8-0 run by the Meteors to grab a lead they would never relinquish.
Marissa-Coulterville made 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Runyon finished with 22 points, while Smith had 15 and Kevin Galle added eight points and 15 rebounds.
“We knew we couldn’t beat them in a half-court game,” added Miller. “We had to open it up and our press really gave them problems. The game was won with our press. We came out with more energy in the second half.”
Marissa-Coulterville advanced to the regional semifinals to face top-seeded Trico Wednesday night. The Meteors are playing without their second leading scorer, Joey Martin, who is out the remainder of the season with a concussion.
“We have nothing to lose against Trico,” said Miller. “We have played some tough teams this year but Trico is on another level. We want to send the seniors out right and we won’t just give this game to Trico, they will have to earn it.”