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Golden Bears can’t shake slump, Weir is next

MOUNDSVILLE — John Marshall honored its seniors before Wednesday’s game against Oak Glen.

And like he has done time and time again at the John Marshall Field House, Gunner Thompson gave the home crowd something to remember him by.

Thompson scored a season-high 31 points – 20 in the second half — to lead John Marshall to a come-from-behind 67-49 victory against Oak Glen on Senior Night.

“He broke the 30-point club, he had 29 the other night and we have been trying to get him there,” John Marshall coach Chad Clutter said. “It was a great that he did that. If he would have made a couple more foul shots he would have been there sooner, but I think he was a little nervous.

“In the open court, he is hard to handle.”

With all the emotion of Senior Night, the Monarchs got off to a slow start and Oak Glen took advantage, controlling the first quarter and entering halftime with a one-point lead at 24-23.

The second half belonged to the Monarchs, especially the third quarter.

John Marshall (12-10) used the one-two punch of Thompson and sophomore Justin Frohnapfel to combine for 18 of the team’s 24 points in the third quarter, doubling up the Golden Bears.

The Monarchs went to a press defense and sped the game up, which gave Oak Glen fits and not allow the Golden Bears to be as comfortable as they were in the first half.

“We stunk in the first half and in the second half we played our type of tempo,” Clutter said. “We are usually cautious in the first half and whatever the tempo is in the first half, we usually change it in the second half. We sped them up and they missed a few shots and we were able to take advantage of the open court.

“We came out in the second half doing that and Bryce (Yoho) got an easy basket and it just rolled from there.”

The two teams traded baskets in the early going of the third until consecutive baskets from Frohnapfel, Thompson and Yoho gave John Marshall a 33-28 lead. The Monarchs never trailed again.

Thompson hit two big 3-pointers during a 12-3 run.

At the conclusion of the run, Oak Glen’s double-double machine Ethan Travis went down with an injury and didn’t return. He had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

John Marshall scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter and a game that was close early on started to get out of hand.

Thompson recorded a steal and layup while getting fouled during the final seconds to provide an exclamation point.

Yoho netted 14 points, while Frohnapfel scored 12.

“It just got away from us in the second half,” Oak Glen coach Jerry Everly said. “They were hitting shots we weren’t and we could have played better defensively. We didn’t get after it. The press shouldn’t have bothered us. I should have gotten us in better position.

“We have a press break and it hasn’t bothered us all season. We just lost a little focus. Maybe we were looking forward to playing Weir with the sectional and seedings coming out and weren’t focused.”

Sean Smith paced Oak Glen (14-8) with 17 points. The Golden Bears open sectional playoff at 7 p.m. Saturday at home against Weir having lost five of six following a 12-game winning streak. According to Everly, Travis should be fine and able to play.

On the other hand, the Monarchs are on a roll, having won four straight and five of six to close the regular season. John Marshall plays host to Brooke at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

OAK GLEN: 15-9-12-13 –49

JOHN MAR 12-11-24-20 — 67

OAK GLEN SCORING: Smith 8-17 0-3 17; Gittings 2-7 0-0 5; Kokoski 2-10 0-0 4; Poling 0-2 0-0 0; Travis 6-9 3-4 16; Wiley 0-1 0-0 0; Staub 3-4 1-2 7; Taylor 0-0 0-0 0; Perez 0-0 0-0 0. TEAM TOTALS: 21-50, 4-10: 49.

JOHN MARSHALL SCORING: Yoho 7-13 0-1 14; 1-1 0-0 2; Thompson 11-15 6-11 31; McLaughlin 2-4 0-0 4; Whitelach 1-2 1-1 3; Frohnapfel 5-10 2-3 12; Norris 0-2 1-2 1; Derrow 0-3 0-0 0; Campbell 0-0 0-0 0; Reid 0-0 0-0 0; Miller 0-0 0-0 0; Fitzpatrick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-49, 10-18: 67.

3-Point Goals: Smith, Gittings, Travis; Thompson 3.

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