by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
John Marshall’s got it.
The creation of atmosphere. The swagger. The confidence. The players. The it.
They put all of it on Henrico Thursday night, defeating the homestanding Warriors 97-70 to launch themselves into the upper echelon of the Central Region with Highland Springs and Petersburg, the two top-ranked squads in the DigitalSports Top 10.
JM (13-2) is No. 3, and the way coach Frank Threatts‘ young guys have played, they won’t be giving the spot up anytime soon.
“They’ve been playing well the last two or three weeks,” Threatts said. “We wanted to get out fast ourselves. I knew they were not a fast-paced club. I wanted to get them to play fast. We pushed our defense up and put pressure on different places on the floor.”
The Justices’ 2-2-1 halfcourt defense wreaked havoc on Henrico’s guards, causing many turnovers.
When the ninth-ranked Warriors did advance past halfcourt, an imposing back line of 6-7 Travis McKie, 6-6 Darryl Lee and 6-5 Maurice Johnson were there to block or change shots or rebound caroms.
A 4-4 tie with 4:00 left in the first quarter changed into a 25-8 lead at the end of the period in favor of JM.
Henrico gave up seven turnovers in the run, each of which ended up in points for the Justices on layups from Devon Thornton (22 points) and powerful jams from super sophomores McKie (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Johnson (19 points).
When the Justices did set their offense, an open shot either went in or was rebounded by Lee and put back in. He had 10 points, eight in the first half, and 10 rebounds.
Henrico coach Vance Harmon called two timeouts in the period, one down 8-4, the other down 15-4. Nothing could work as JM unleashed a fury reserved for elite squads.
“They steamrolled us,” said Harmon, as Claude Summers put in 20 points for the Warriors. “From the opening tip. Just completely dominated. Right now, to me, it looks like they have that it factor. They looked poised out there and they are playing with a purpose.”
The lead ballooned to 25 on a nasty McKie spin move before the Warriors trimmed the lead to 17 against JM’s bench. Threatts brought out the first five in the second half, and the advantage crept up again.
Thornton nailed two of his four 3-pointers and McKie hit another and an old-fashioned three-point play to lead by 27 going into the fourth, 74-47.
The lead eventually got to 33 points before Thornton and the rest of the starters rested up for their big Colonial District tilt at Deep Run Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“Coach told us to pressure them from the jump,” Thornton said. “That’s all we had to do. Run ’em. We heard they don’t like to be pressed.”
Threatts likes this team, but loves 1997’s version. He makes sure to keep that 28-1, region champion and state semifinalist at the top of his 2008 team’s mind.
It’s pretty easy to do with C.T. Thornton and Lamar Taylor, two studs off the historic team, on the bench beside him.
“The only thing I can hope is to keep their heads straight,” Threatts said. “They can lose their focus quick. I’m trying to keep their minds right. There are bigger things ahead.”
J. Marshall 25 22 27 23 – 97
Henrico 8 22 17 23 – 70
John Marshall (13-2): Farrar 7, Ward 2, Johnson 19, Jefferson 2, Brownlee 0, Brockington 5, Vaughan 0, Thornton 22, McKie 20, Brown 0, Braxton 8, Lee 10, Jackson 2. Totals: 39 12-15 97. 3-point goals: Thornton 4, McKie 2, Brockington.
Henrico (12-6): Prentiss 2, Summers 20, Davis 8, Robinson 0, Folden 10, McNeil 10, Wansley 9, Cooper 4, Jones 0, Zavelsky 3, Holmes 4. Totals: 23 22-30 70. 3-point goals: Davis 2.
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