On Thursday, Dec. 9, the Maclay Marauders boys varsity basketball team played a regular season game against the Florida High Seminoles. While the score stayed close in the beginning, the Seminoles started racking up points, and the game ended with a score of 78-59 with the Seminoles as the victors.
“I learned that you cannot get pushed around,” junior Colin Mcallister said. “ You cannot get pushed around, and we got to follow the game plan and stuff in that matter and play strong.”
The boys varsity basketball game started right around 7:00 p.m. The Marauders began strong as they won the jump ball and had possession over the ball. They quickly lost possession to the Seminoles, however. The Seminoles soon put up two points on the board to begin their lead. In response, the Marauders drove the ball down the court a few times, but Florida High was always right behind them. Junior Blaise Wallace, who ended up with the most points for Maclay with a total of 25, helped the score stay close by scoring several points within the first quarter. Once the first quarter was over, the score of the game was 15-12 and the Florida High Seminoles were ahead.
“We need to be more conservative and not turn the ball over as much,” junior Michael Grant said.
Throughout the second quarter, the Seminoles kept on scoring while the Marauders started to fall behind. Senior Jaqay Randolph, who’s height allowed him to dunk the ball right on the Seminoles, was not enough to keep Maclay in the game. The Florida High defense kept blocking the Marauders from scoring, which allowed the Seminoles to have a 12 point lead at halftime with a score of 36-24.
“Another learning lesson last night,” Coach Eugene Granger said. “ I think we are only going to get better, so we can’t really put too much weight on it as it is so early in the season.”
The third quarter score ended 57-33 with the Marauders still far behind. There were a few dunks and free throws made by the Marauders in the last quarter, but the Seminoles had a big lead on Maclay. Everytime Florida High was on offense in the last few minutes of the game they scored some two pointers. In the end, the Seminoles beat the Marauders with a final score of 78-59.
