Marion punches ticket to lower state final

The Marion basketball team knows only one style of play – fast.

So with his team’s 14-point lead trimmed to three in the third quarter, Swamp Foxes coach John Washington told his team to pick up the pace.

And Marion did just that.

The Swamp Foxes went on a 16-6 run from the final minute of the third to the midway point of the fourth en route to a 66-48 win over Timberland in Wednesday’s Class 2A lower state semifinal.

Marion advances to Saturday’s Class 2A lower state championship game against North Charleston, which defeated Mullins in overtime. It’s the Swamp Foxes’ first trip to the lower state finals since the school integrated in the 1970s.

“Coach told us to speed the game up because our game is speed,” Marion senior guard Chris Washington said. “Because when the game was slowed down, they came back and got the run. So we came back, played defense and sped the game up like we are suppose to.”

The Swamp Foxes’ full-court press took over in the fourth quarter and forced Timberland into mistakes like they did in the first half. For the game, Marion forced the Wolves into 22 turnovers, six coming in the decisive run in the second half.

“Coach told us they couldn’t dribble the ball so we practiced our press this week,” junior Marqui Mckelvy said. “Our pressed created turnovers and helped us get some easy baskets.”

Marion (21-6) also got a big game from Washington, one of the Pee Dee’s best pitchers on the baseball diamond. The senior, who was averaging just 6.6 points a game, scored a career-high 19 points and had a big 3-pointer during the Swamp Foxes’ run in the fourth.

Washington’s previous high was 18 points against Dillon on Dec. 27.

“My team told me they were going to need me and my shot,” Chris Washington said. “So I went out, played good defense and got my shot and took it.”

Mckelvy added 18 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks. The 6-foot-8 center gave Washington and the Marion fans a scare near the end of the third when he went down on the floor with a leg cramp.

Mckelvy returned at the beginning of the fourth and hit 5-of-6 free throws over the final eight minutes.

Junior point guard Darryl Kelly added 13 points and seven boards for Marion.

The loss ends the season for the Wolves, who won 13 of their last 18 games after an 0-8 start.

Austin McKinney and James Middleton each scored 11 points to lead Timberland. All-state selection Darryl Palmer was held to six points and eight rebounds.

Palmer, however, helped get Timberland and its crowd back into it with a pair of alley-oop dunks that trimmed the lead to 37-31 with 2:34 left in the third quarter.

McKinney’s jumper got it to within 39-36 with 36 seconds left in the third. But Mckelvy answered with a put-back and Kelly sank a pair of free throws to give the Swamp Foxes a 43-36 lead after three.

In the fourth, Marion held the Wolves to just two field goals over the first four minutes and stretched the lead to 55-39.

“The kids didn’t want to let this one slip away and showed great resiliency in the second half,” John Washington said. “We got a great group of kids who have worked hard and stayed together. Adjectives can’t describe this feeling.”