CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Both North Marion and Robert C. Byrd were away from the hardwood for two straight days ahead of Tuesday’s matchup.
If there was thought that both teams would show signs of rust early on, the Huskies put it to rest quickly.
North Marion jumped out to a 20-3 advantage, shot almost 58 percent in the first half and 53 percent altogether to handle business in a 77-67 victory against the Eagles that marks the Huskies’ 10th straight win.
“We made shots and we rushed them,” Huskies’ head coach Steve Harbert said of factors that aided the strong start. “They rushed some shots and we did a great job rebounding early and executed our transition offense.”
Eli Ramsey and Maddox Batson each made a three-pointer to open the scoring, and after Rylee Dickerson accounted for the first RCB basket, North Marion (17-2) ran off 10 unanswered points, including a Ramsey layup for the 20-3 lead.
“For whatever reason, we came out flat as flat can be,” Eagles’ head coach Basil Lucas said. “They were aggressive and hit some shots and threes right off the bat, and instead of us turning around and attacking on offense, we hung our heads a little bit too much.”
The Huskies settled for a 23-10 advantage through one quarter, and the Eagles (13-7) were within single digits at 26-17 when Manny Holmes made a trey with 4:05 left in the first half.
But NMHS controlled what remained of the opening half, starting with a conventional three-point play from Jacob Kucish at the 3:11 mark. Kucish added another with 2:06 left that left his team leading 34-19, and Ramsey banked in a triple just before the buzzer sounded to send the Huskies into the locker room with a commanding 41-24 advantage.
Ramsey was 7 for 9 with 16 points at halftime to aid an efficient North Marion attack that was 15 for 26 overall.
“Any guy that we bring into a game, they know the shots that they can take. If it’s within the offense and within range and rhythm, we encourage them to take those shots,” Harbert said. “We’re playing confident offensively.”
The third quarter was essentially even, and the Huskies were on top 55-37 with 8 minutes remaining.
RCB didn’t go away quietly down the stretch, and the home team mustered 30 fourth-quarter points, half of which Logan Boyce provided with five threes.
The second of Boyce’s fourth-quarter treys left the Eagles trailing 61-48, while the fourth came with exactly 1 minute remaining and trimmed the NMHS advantage to 71-61. But the closest the Eagles got was eight on a Holmes’ triple with 17 seconds remaining.
“I commend them for the effort and I’m proud of the effort in the second half,” Lucas said. “When it gets away quick like it did in the first quarter, a lot of teams would’ve gotten pounded. We had it to a three-possession game in the fourth quarter and North Marion had to start thinking, what’s going to happen, I can’t believe they’re back in this now. That hole was just too big for us to overcome.”
Ramsey led all players with 31 points, made 10-of-15 shots and dished out a game-high seven assists.
“Eli’s a great teammate and does a good job of leading as well,” Harbert said. “I guarantee if you asked him, he would credit his teammates for helping get him open. When you make shots, team have to stretch out a little bit, and that really opens up the inside for him, Conner and other guys to drive. He did a good job all night.”
Kucish scored 18 on 7-for-10 shooting, while Connor Balwanz added 10 and Batson scored nine.
Cole Morris grabbed a game-high seven rebounds in the win and was instrumental in the Huskies winning the board battle, 33-24.
NMHS made 27-of-51 shots and 16-of-22 free throws, while the Eagles shot 24 for 51 from the field, but 9 for 19 on free throws.
Boyce led the Eagles with 23 points, Dickerson scored 16 and Holmes contributed 14.
RCB has lost four straight.
The result wraps up an unbeaten regular season within the Big 10 Conference for North Marion at 11-0.
“We wanted to play fast and free and win this game to go undefeated in the Big 10,” Harbert said, “so that it wasn’t us and Bridgeport as co-champs.”