Webber topples Woodlawn behind Marlow

 

By PAUL HINES

phines@morningsentinel.com

BLUFORD — Webber weathered a long range shooting barrage and pulled away late,beating Woodlawn 62-54.

“Our guys came out, and they really battled,” Webber coach Jaxon Helm said. “I thought early on we were really nervous, and it showed. We couldn’t put the ball in the hoop. We had good looks and couldn’t score.”

The showdown pitted a pair of the top teams in 1A against each other.

“We missed some easy ones early,” Woodlawn coach Luke Cooper said. “We had some pretty good looks around the rim, got to get those in. Credit goes to Webber, they played well tonight. They just beat us.”

Nathaniel Marlow poured in 37 points to power the Webber offense. He finished 13 of 25 from the field. The senior was also a perfect 8 of 8 from the foul line.

“He’s a winner,” Helm said. “He scores a lot of points, and that shows up in the box score. But loose balls late in the game, he seems to get it, rebounds off the rim late in the game he seems to get it. He’s a pure blooded winner, and every day I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Woodlawn grabbed an early lead, but the game remained close throughout. Luke McKay paced Woodlawn with 24 points. The junior drained five 3-pointers in the third quarter to keep the Cardinals close.

“That was a huge stretch for us, kind of kept us in the game there when we were struggling a little bit offensively,” coach Cooper said. “Luke had a great night and picked up the slack when we were hurting in some other areas.”

Marlow hit back-to-back shots at the start of the fourth. The buckets gave the Trojans a 50-48 lead. Webber never lost the advantage after that.

“He had a great game,” coach Cooper said. “And listen I feel like Baylor (Rollie) and Luke (McKay) are really good defenders. They do a pretty good job on guys. And they’ve shut some good players down. He was just rolling tonight.”

Rollie did trim the deficit to 52-50 at the 2:10 mark. Marlow and Bryden Dalby helped Webber close out the victory with a half dozen foul shots down the stretch.

Woodlawn stretched out a 25-20 lead midway through the second quarter. McKay scored in transition to put the Cardinals up five points. Webber closed the half with a strong stretch and took a slim 30-29 lead into halftime.

Behind McKay’s hot shooting third period, Woodlawn was up 40-36 halfway through the period. Woodlawn held a 48-46 lead going into the fourth after McKay’s final long range shot.

Webber improved to 12-1 this season while Woodlawn dropped to 14-1.

“I also want to thank my assistant coaches,” Helm said. “I came down with the flu Sunday and wasn’t able to come to practice (Monday). My dad (Travis) and coach (Wayne) Stone ran practice, did a great job, knew what I wanted and kept the standard how it is.”

Webber 62 Woodlawn 54

Webber 10-30-46-62

Woodlawn 14-29-48-54

WEBBER: Waylon Jones 6-12 0-0 13, Carter Bain 1-1 0-0 3, Bryden Dalby 3-5 2-2 9, Nathaniel Marlow 13-25 8-8 37.

WOODLAWN: Baylor Rollie 3-6 2-2 8, Luke McKay 9-17 0-0 24, Kylan Moser 1-8 0-0 2, Tyson Frick 1-6 0-2 2, Kyle Cooper 4-12 10-10 18.

Turnovers: Woodlawn 13 Webber 14. Fouls: Woodlawn 14 Webber 11. Rebounds: Webber 23 (Kylan Moser 9), Webber 26 (Nathaniel Marlow 7).