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Marshall stops Pennfield in final minutes, 83-76

Marshall's Forest Jackson (4) takes a shot as Pennfield's Steffen Kinne (12) defends during Friday night's game.

Marshall’s Forest Jackson (4) takes a shot as Pennfield’s Steffen Kinne (12) defends during Friday night’s game.

Marshall's Drew DeVine (24) defends as Pennfield's Francois Jamierson (11) goes for the hoop during Friday night's game.

Marshall’s Drew DeVine (24) defends as Pennfield’s Francois Jamierson (11) goes for the hoop during Friday night’s game.

Marshall's T.J. Rocco (15) takes a shot during Friday night's game.

Marshall’s T.J. Rocco (15) takes a shot during Friday night’s game.

Pennfield's Francois Jamierson (11) goes for the hoop during Friday night's game.

Pennfield’s Francois Jamierson (11) goes for the hoop during Friday night’s game.

Pennfield's Francois Jamierson (11) bring the ball down the court during Friday night's game.

Pennfield’s Francois Jamierson (11) bring the ball down the court during Friday night’s game.

Pennfield's Deveaire Todd (lt) takes a shot as Marshall's Jacob Brubaker (10) looks on during Friday night's game.

Pennfield’s Deveaire Todd (lt) takes a shot as Marshall’s Jacob Brubaker (10) looks on during Friday night’s game.

Pennfield's Ronald Jamierson (3) goes for the hoop as Marshall's T. J. Rooco (15) defends during Friday night's game.

Pennfield’s Ronald Jamierson (3) goes for the hoop as Marshall’s T. J. Rooco (15) defends during Friday night’s game.

Marshall's Mitch Avery (32) takes a shot during Friday night's game.

Marshall’s Mitch Avery (32) takes a shot during Friday night’s game.

Pennfield's Francois Jamierson (11) goes for the hoop during Friday night's game.

Pennfield’s Francois Jamierson (11) goes for the hoop during Friday night’s game.

Pennfields's Melsnie Mcintyre (11) bring the ball down the court against Marshall Friday evening.

Pennfields’s Melsnie Mcintyre (11) bring the ball down the court against Marshall Friday evening.

The best gift you can get under the basketball Christmas tree is a win right before the holiday break.

Pennfield's Ronald Jamierson (3) gets triped by Marshall's Marcus Walters (3) during Friday night's game.

Pennfield’s Ronald Jamierson (3) gets triped by Marshall’s Marcus Walters (3) during Friday night’s game.

Such a victory will have Redhawk players and coaches smiling all the way through their holiday break after Marshall defeated Pennfield, 83-76, in this Interstate 8 Conference boys basketball game at Pennfield on Friday.

“It’s huge to get a win right before break,” Marshall coach Nick Dent said. “We started out 0-2, but now we’ve had a great week with a couple wins and we get to go into that extended break with a lot of momentum and positive energy and that’s something we can ride.”

Marshall (2-2) won this game with better execution down the stretch.

Trailing much of the second half, Pennfield (1-2) had climbed back into the contest after a hot-shooting fourth quarter by Devaire Todd, with three 3-pointers in the period, plus a layup that turned into a three-point play to make it 74-74. Then the Panthers took a 76-74 lead with 3:50 remaining in the game after a layup by Steffen Kinne.

However, Pennfield would go scoreless the last 3:50 of the game.

Marshall’s Tyler Torrey gave the visitors back the lead at 78-76 with 1:25 remaining. Then free throws down the stretch gave the Redhawks the win.

“The difference was at the end of the game. They have a lot of seniors on the floor and I thought their seniors were poised. We have one senior out there and we kind of made stuff hard on ourselves,” Pennfield coach Steve Grimes said. “We made some poor decisions and we didn’t execute when we needed to in those last minutes.”

Marshall had seen its lead balloon to eight points to start the fourth quarter at 67-59 after a 14-6 run to end the period, following a 3-pointer by Torrey near the end of the frame.

And when Pennfield made its run, the Redhawks were able to withstand the charge.

Pennfield's Francois Jamierson (11) gets blocked by Marshall's Jacob Brubaker (11) and Marcus Walters (3) during Friday night's game.

Pennfield’s Francois Jamierson (11) gets blocked by Marshall’s Jacob Brubaker (11) and Marcus Walters (3) during Friday night’s game.

“We were resilient. We are better with that this year because we are more mature, we have guys with some experience, they know we can withstand some runs and hang in there and get a win,” Dent said.

Neither team had trouble scoring throughout the game with Marshall getting five players in double-figures and Pennfield adding four players in double-figures.

“I know we can play offense and we can knock down shots. But we have to be able to play better defense. We have to work harder and take more pride in our defense if we want to win ball games,” Grimes said.

Kinne led Pennfield with 26 points and eight rebounds with Todd adding 18 points, Ron Jamierson getting 13 points and five assists and Francois Jamierson chipping in 10 points and eight rebounds.

Marshall was especially potent on offense early, going 8-for-8 from the field in the second quarter when the Redhawks first took over the game with a 26-14 advantage in the period.

Jacob Brubaker led Marshall with 27 points with Torrey adding 15 points, Drew Devine and Forrest Jackson each getting 11 points and Marcus Waters chipping in 10.

“A lot of points scored by both teams tonight. Our guys know how to score. We are a lot like Pennfield in that we both can score. We just need to improve on defense and if we want to be successful in the I-8 we are going to have to play better defense than we did tonight,” Dent said.

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