Cambridge 55 @ Marietta 56 (OT)

[mhs95_06]

In a very exciting, but with miscues typical of opener play, the future ECOL competitors played the game with the outcome in doubt even after the clock expired on the OT period:

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/conte ... l?nav=5025

Marietta's defensive rebounding was a definite problem, and their intelligence of play was not nearly to the level of last season's team which impressed me so much.

Hatmaker and Evancho put Cambridge in control early, scoring 13 of the first 15 points and putting their team up 15-7. Marietta converted some steals and got back in the game at 25-27, but theme of the game, Cambridge running down the final minute of the clock, was successful for Cambridge for the only time as they took a 29-25 lead to halftime.

Cambridge's very key player in the middle, Cox, who would receive the pass in the paint, move and frequently dish for good assists, went out with three fouls in the 3rd quarter, and Marietta made a run to control the game, winning the 3rd quarter by 15-4 to take a 7 point lead.

Then in the 4th, if my notes are correct, Hatmaker scored three treys and 13 of the 16 points for his team to ultimately send it to OT. However, with the game tied 49-49, Cambridge had possession of the ball from 1:20 left through 4 timeouts all the way to the last second of regulation. This 1:20 was a very intelligent period for Marietta and ended in success(getting to OT) with a steal, by Hess, of an inbounds pass from under the basket on the left to the corner on the right, depriving Cambridge of a game winning FG attempt.

In OT, the lead went back and forth with Cambridge taking a 55-53 lead at about 1:20 left on Jamiel's 2nd FG of the OT. Davis hit one of two FTs with 1:09 left which gave Cambridge the lead and the ball with 1:09 left. In another period of poise and intelligence, Marietta put the defensive pressure on, resisted the temptation to foul to put them at the line to get the ball back, and was rewarded with a turnover with 18 sec left and trailing by a single point.

So here is where my disappointment in intelligent play is greatest. Down one with the ball in the final 15 sec, the thinking has to be that when a shot goes up, or a turnover is made, you have to have all five players put the pressure on the ball, and foul if they don't get it, and put it back up in the basket if they do. So soon after the Marietta inbound pass, a good shot opens up for Davis at the extended foul line on the right. The shot doesn't go in, and unbelievably, there is no Marietta player even on the basket side of the foul line. Two Cambridge players easily corral the rebound, and then in a gigantic break for Marietta, one of them drops it out of bounds to give it back. On the next inbounds, it gets just where I'd want it, in Z. Arnold's hands at the foul line. However it is knocked away and Cambridge's Jamiel grabs it and all of Marietta runs the other way except for the two that have 4 fouls, Z. Arnold and Davis, who have him trapped. After a couple of seconds they realize that one of them must foul, and Davis takes it with about 4 sec left. Jamiel, needing both FT to make it a 3 point lead, misses the first, and then in a smart play(thinking that a Marietta trey will beat a one or two point lead either way and they'll not have time for a duece, and a FT miss will start the clock as soon as Marietta grabs it), he missed the 2nd FT on purpose. The Tigers got the ball down court to Wynn for the controversial ending which gave him the opportunity for three free throws, needing 1/3 to tie, 2/3 to win. It only took him two shots to win it, and the 3rd shot wasn't attempted as the outcome was decided. In retrospect, Jamiel probably regrets not trying to make his 2nd FT, but like the Belicheck 4th and 1 decision vs. the Colts, it was the right decision at the time.