The fifth game of the day in the 8th Annual VirginiaPreps.com Hoops Classic featured a pair of state powers as the Blue Ridge Barons met up with the John Marshall Justices.
A nip-and-tuck first quarter where neither team led by more than four points ended with John Marshall holding a 19-15 advantage will all five of the Justice starters scoring at least three points in the period paced by Xavier Trent with five.
Nothing changed in the second period as Blue Ridge fought their way back to even less than two minutes in knotting the game at 21-21. The battle stayed hotly-contested as neither team found a way to open up more than a four-point deficit in the second period until just before halftime when Marshall pulled away with a late spurt to lead 36-27.
Scoring was coming evenly across the board for both teams with Blue Ridge being led by Scott Spencer and Malik Johnson with 8 and 7 points, respectively. On the other end of the court, John Marshall was being paced by Greg Jones and Jeremy Carter-Sheppard who tallied 10 and 8.
The difference in the first half was John Marshall hot shooting as they hit 15 of their 29 shots (51.7%) while limiting Blue Ridge to just 11 of 29 (37.9%). The Justices were particularly lethal from behind the three-point stripe connecting on 4 of 5 shots.
Blue Ridge struck first in the third quarter when Scott Spencer hit a three-pointer to open the second half scoring, but John Marshall matched them back-for-bucket and a three-pointer by Greg Jones gave the Justices a 40-33 lead just over two minutes into the period. Not ready to go away, Blue Ridge then scored five of the game's next six points to cut the deficit to three at 43-40 with two minutes left in the third as they starting getting more open looks.
A Malik Johnson putback bucket made it a one-point game at 45-44, a score the held until the 0:56 mark when John Marshall called time out. Out of the break, Carter-Sheppard hit an and-one drive adding the free throw to put the Justices up four at 48-44, but Blue Ridge grabbed another score before the end of the quarter to make it 48-46 after three.
A three-pointer by Scott Spencer less than a minute into the final period gave Blue Ridge their first lead in a while at 51-48, then he added a nifty up-and-under bucket on the next possession to make it 53-50 Barons.
Marshall battled back with a pair of free throws from Greg Jones but Spencer hit yet another three-pointer with just under five minutes to play to push Blue Ridge to a 58-54 lead. A running bucket by Xavier Trent with three minutes left tied the game at 58 apiece potentially setting up late game drama.
Afanna Offor hit one of two free throws for Blue Ridge before Isaiah Anderson scored off a rebound to give Marshall back the lead. Aamir Simms scored inside for another lead change but Carter-Sheppard hit a pair of frrebies to make it Marshall 62, Blue Ridge 61 with 1:34 to go.
Coming out of a timeout, Simms went to the line for two shots and hit both for a Blue Ridge 63-62 lead. Marshall came back with a rebound and score by Anderson, but Spencer responded with a triple as the lead changes came every possession.
0:50 to go, Blue Ridge 66, John Marshall 64
Jeremy Carter-Sheppard nailed two free throws to knot the game at 66 with 0:50 to play.
After a pair of misses by both teams, Blue Ridge pulled the defensive rebound to gain possession with 0:11 to play, calling timeout.
A driving shot by Malik Johnson goes long and we headed to our second overtime of the day and fourth in VirginiaPreps Hoops Classic history.
OVERTIME
Offor opened the scoring with a triple just over a minute into the extra session giving Blue Ridge a 69-66 advantage.
Two minutes later, Marshall got a breakout bucket from Levar Allen to cut the lead to one at 69-68 with 0:46 remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Blue Ridge worked the clock down to 22 seconds when Malik Johnson was fouled and sent to the line. Missing the first of a one-and-one, the door was open.
A driving score by Isaiah Anderson with four seconds left gave Marshall a 70-69 lead before Blue Ridge got a timeout with just one second left in the game.
A catch-and-release shot by Josh Colon fell short at the buzzer.
Final: John Marshall 70, Blue Ridge 69
To hear post-game audio with Marshall head coach Tytrail White, click here
A nip-and-tuck first quarter where neither team led by more than four points ended with John Marshall holding a 19-15 advantage will all five of the Justice starters scoring at least three points in the period paced by Xavier Trent with five.
Nothing changed in the second period as Blue Ridge fought their way back to even less than two minutes in knotting the game at 21-21. The battle stayed hotly-contested as neither team found a way to open up more than a four-point deficit in the second period until just before halftime when Marshall pulled away with a late spurt to lead 36-27.
Scoring was coming evenly across the board for both teams with Blue Ridge being led by Scott Spencer and Malik Johnson with 8 and 7 points, respectively. On the other end of the court, John Marshall was being paced by Greg Jones and Jeremy Carter-Sheppard who tallied 10 and 8.
The difference in the first half was John Marshall hot shooting as they hit 15 of their 29 shots (51.7%) while limiting Blue Ridge to just 11 of 29 (37.9%). The Justices were particularly lethal from behind the three-point stripe connecting on 4 of 5 shots.
Blue Ridge struck first in the third quarter when Scott Spencer hit a three-pointer to open the second half scoring, but John Marshall matched them back-for-bucket and a three-pointer by Greg Jones gave the Justices a 40-33 lead just over two minutes into the period. Not ready to go away, Blue Ridge then scored five of the game's next six points to cut the deficit to three at 43-40 with two minutes left in the third as they starting getting more open looks.
A Malik Johnson putback bucket made it a one-point game at 45-44, a score the held until the 0:56 mark when John Marshall called time out. Out of the break, Carter-Sheppard hit an and-one drive adding the free throw to put the Justices up four at 48-44, but Blue Ridge grabbed another score before the end of the quarter to make it 48-46 after three.
A three-pointer by Scott Spencer less than a minute into the final period gave Blue Ridge their first lead in a while at 51-48, then he added a nifty up-and-under bucket on the next possession to make it 53-50 Barons.
Marshall battled back with a pair of free throws from Greg Jones but Spencer hit yet another three-pointer with just under five minutes to play to push Blue Ridge to a 58-54 lead. A running bucket by Xavier Trent with three minutes left tied the game at 58 apiece potentially setting up late game drama.
Afanna Offor hit one of two free throws for Blue Ridge before Isaiah Anderson scored off a rebound to give Marshall back the lead. Aamir Simms scored inside for another lead change but Carter-Sheppard hit a pair of frrebies to make it Marshall 62, Blue Ridge 61 with 1:34 to go.
Coming out of a timeout, Simms went to the line for two shots and hit both for a Blue Ridge 63-62 lead. Marshall came back with a rebound and score by Anderson, but Spencer responded with a triple as the lead changes came every possession.
0:50 to go, Blue Ridge 66, John Marshall 64
Jeremy Carter-Sheppard nailed two free throws to knot the game at 66 with 0:50 to play.
After a pair of misses by both teams, Blue Ridge pulled the defensive rebound to gain possession with 0:11 to play, calling timeout.
A driving shot by Malik Johnson goes long and we headed to our second overtime of the day and fourth in VirginiaPreps Hoops Classic history.
OVERTIME
Offor opened the scoring with a triple just over a minute into the extra session giving Blue Ridge a 69-66 advantage.
Two minutes later, Marshall got a breakout bucket from Levar Allen to cut the lead to one at 69-68 with 0:46 remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Blue Ridge worked the clock down to 22 seconds when Malik Johnson was fouled and sent to the line. Missing the first of a one-and-one, the door was open.
A driving score by Isaiah Anderson with four seconds left gave Marshall a 70-69 lead before Blue Ridge got a timeout with just one second left in the game.
A catch-and-release shot by Josh Colon fell short at the buzzer.
Final: John Marshall 70, Blue Ridge 69
To hear post-game audio with Marshall head coach Tytrail White, click here
