Naji Marshall delivers late as Eleanor Roosevelt knocks off Wise
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Version 0 of 1. Eleanor Roosevelt senior Naji Marshall hit rainbow three-pointers, knifed through the lane, stifled Wise’s top scorer and even had a couple chasedown blocks to ignite the students that crammed into the bleachers Friday night in Greenbelt. But with the game hanging in the balance, Raiders Coach Brendan O’Connell called on his star player to show off the skill he had all along. He told Marshall to get the inbounds pass at the top of the key, whittle the clock down to the final seconds and “just do stuff with the ball.” Marshall did just enough, delivering Eleanor Roosevelt a 53-51 win over No. 10 Wise by sinking two clutch foul shots with 0.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-5 wing created space off the dribble, pump-faked and drew a foul shooting from just inside the three-point arc. The final sequence capped a back-and-forth matchup between Prince George’s 4A heavyweights that ultimately belonged to Marshall. The emerging Division I prospect finished with 26 points and eight rebounds, blocked shots from behind on fastbreaks, played shutdown defense and collected buckets in a variety of ways. When the final horn sounded, students rushed the court and lifted Marshall onto their shoulders. It was just like last year — when he hit a shot to beat Wise at the buzzer. “I have a lot more confidence . . . and I have a lot of confidence in my team,” Marshall said. He began the evening by pushing Roosevelt (2-2, 1-0 Prince George’s 4A) to a 17-5 first-quarter lead and held Wise junior Michael Speight in check much of the first half. But the Raiders went more than five minutes without a point to start the second quarter, and the Pumas slowly clawed back into the game. Speight (17 points) then caught fire with Marshall on the bench, closing a 14-point outburst in the third quarter by swishing three straight three-pointers, including a long-range shot from the volleyball lines. Suddenly Wise (2-2, 1-1) had its first lead, 40-37, entering the fourth quarter. The momentum shifted furiously from there, with neither team up by more than one basket over the final seven minutes of action. Junior Darron Barnes (16 points) kept Wise close by drawing several fouls at the rim, and later handed the Pumas a 51-49 advantage on two free throws with two minutes left. But Marshall tied the score again, bulling his way into the paint for a post-up lay-in. Once forward Trent Bishop drew a charge on Barnes to give Roosevelt the ball back one last time, Marshall’s teammates already knew to move out of the way and let him do what he does best. “He’s a big-time threat,” said senior Delascio Dancy (eight points). “Everybody knows coming in to play Roosevelt, you’ve got to worry about No. 3.” |