A stifling defense over the first eight minutes of the second half was the difference last Friday night for the Murphysboro Red Devils.
Murphysboro trailed, 31-30, at halftime, but them held Massac County to just five points in the third quarter, and the Red Devils went on to beat the Patriots, 60-52, in the championship game of the Carterville Class 2A Regional.
The Red Devils played a lot of zone defense in the first half, but went man-to-man in the second half.
"We just told them that in the third quarter we were scrapping the zone,'' said Murphysboro coach Daryl Murphy. "That fact of the matter is that we don't like to play zone defense. We got back to the man-to-man in that third quarter and that was the difference in the game."
Massac County had a chance to widen its lead 15 seconds into the third period, but Hayden Farmer blew a layup following a steal. Following the miss, it was all Red Devils (27-2) for the remainder of the frame.
Dre Shean Payne gave Murphysboro the lead for good when he hit a 3-pointer at the 7:06 mark of the third quarter. Jerrod Gaston would them make it 35-31 with a shot in the lane.
The Patriots pulled within one on Malcolm Amos' trey, but a bucket from Dylan Craig started a 7-0 run for the Red Devils. Eben Brooks followed Craig's bucket with a rebound basket to give the Red Devils a 39-34 advantage, and Payne then hit an acrobatic layup. He was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to give Murphysboro a 42-34 lead with 1:24 remaining in the third period.
Following a basket by Massac County, Brooks hit a free throw to give Murphysboro a 43-36 cushion heading in the final period of play.
Massac County struck first in the fourth quarter, getting a 13-footer from Farmer to pull within five points at 43-38. But a pair of free throws by Gaston, and a jumper by the junior, pushed Murphysboro lead to nine points at 47-38 with 4:53 left in the contest.
Jarelle Johnson's long two-pointer would pull Massac County to within seven, but a trey by Dylan Craig with 3:28 left pushed Murphysboro's advantage to 10 points at 50-40.
The Patriots wouldn't go away, though, and got back-to-back 3-pointers from Johnson and Corey Ayala to pull within four points with 2:28 remaining. Payne would respond, though, with a three-point play to make it 53-46 with 2:11 left.
Payne, a senior, finished with a game-high 22 points, and made several big plays in the game.
"He's been fantastic,'' Murphy said of Payne. "He's seen and played in big games. Every big game we've had this year Dre Shean Payne has come up huge."
While Payne's trey gave Murphysboro a seven-point lead, the Red Devils still weren't out of the woods just yet, as Johnson drained another 3-pointer with 1:48 left to make it 53-49.
It wasn't Payne that stepped up big for the Red Devils after that. No, this time, it was Gaston, who went coast-to-coast for a layup and a three-point play to make it 56-49 with 1:24 left in the contest.
Gaston would then put the icing on the cake 40 seconds later when he broke free following a steal, finishing with a dunk to make it 58-49.
With 43 ticks left on the clock, Payne gave Murphysboro it's biggest lead of the game at 60-49 when he hit two free throws. A 3-pointer by Ayala with 36 seconds left closed out the scoring.
Gaston finished with 18 points for Murphysboro, while Craig added 12 points.
Once the Red Devils had the championship hardware in their hands it was time for their coach to take a deep breath.
"This was the longest week of my life waiting to play this game,'' Murphy said. "I have all the respect in the world for Joe Hosman and Massac County.
"They returned three starters from a team that finished second in the state last year. You knew they were going to play. I thought they really played their best game. We battled, took their punches, and came out standing up."
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A stifling defense over the first eight minutes of the second half was the difference last Friday night for the Murphysboro Red Devils.
Murphysboro trailed, 31-30, at halftime, but them held Massac County to just five points in the third quarter, and the Red Devils went on to beat the Patriots, 60-52, in the championship game of the Carterville Class 2A Regional.
The Red Devils played a lot of zone defense in the first half, but went man-to-man in the second half.
"We just told them that in the third quarter we were scrapping the zone,'' said Murphysboro coach Daryl Murphy. "That fact of the matter is that we don't like to play zone defense. We got back to the man-to-man in that third quarter and that was the difference in the game."
Massac County had a chance to widen its lead 15 seconds into the third period, but Hayden Farmer blew a layup following a steal. Following the miss, it was all Red Devils (27-2) for the remainder of the frame.
Dre Shean Payne gave Murphysboro the lead for good when he hit a 3-pointer at the 7:06 mark of the third quarter. Jerrod Gaston would them make it 35-31 with a shot in the lane.
The Patriots pulled within one on Malcolm Amos' trey, but a bucket from Dylan Craig started a 7-0 run for the Red Devils. Eben Brooks followed Craig's bucket with a rebound basket to give the Red Devils a 39-34 advantage, and Payne then hit an acrobatic layup. He was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to give Murphysboro a 42-34 lead with 1:24 remaining in the third period.
Following a basket by Massac County, Brooks hit a free throw to give Murphysboro a 43-36 cushion heading in the final period of play.
Massac County struck first in the fourth quarter, getting a 13-footer from Farmer to pull within five points at 43-38. But a pair of free throws by Gaston, and a jumper by the junior, pushed Murphysboro lead to nine points at 47-38 with 4:53 left in the contest.
Jarelle Johnson's long two-pointer would pull Massac County to within seven, but a trey by Dylan Craig with 3:28 left pushed Murphysboro's advantage to 10 points at 50-40.
The Patriots wouldn't go away, though, and got back-to-back 3-pointers from Johnson and Corey Ayala to pull within four points with 2:28 remaining. Payne would respond, though, with a three-point play to make it 53-46 with 2:11 left.
Payne, a senior, finished with a game-high 22 points, and made several big plays in the game.
"He's been fantastic,'' Murphy said of Payne. "He's seen and played in big games. Every big game we've had this year Dre Shean Payne has come up huge."
While Payne's trey gave Murphysboro a seven-point lead, the Red Devils still weren't out of the woods just yet, as Johnson drained another 3-pointer with 1:48 left to make it 53-49.
It wasn't Payne that stepped up big for the Red Devils after that. No, this time, it was Gaston, who went coast-to-coast for a layup and a three-point play to make it 56-49 with 1:24 left in the contest.
Gaston would then put the icing on the cake 40 seconds later when he broke free following a steal, finishing with a dunk to make it 58-49.
With 43 ticks left on the clock, Payne gave Murphysboro it's biggest lead of the game at 60-49 when he hit two free throws. A 3-pointer by Ayala with 36 seconds left closed out the scoring.
Gaston finished with 18 points for Murphysboro, while Craig added 12 points.
Once the Red Devils had the championship hardware in their hands it was time for their coach to take a deep breath.
"This was the longest week of my life waiting to play this game,'' Murphy said. "I have all the respect in the world for Joe Hosman and Massac County.
"They returned three starters from a team that finished second in the state last year. You knew they were going to play. I thought they really played their best game. We battled, took their punches, and came out standing up."
