BEREA, Ky. – Maryville's season came to a close Friday night as the Scots fell to No. 1 seed Berea 74-48 in the semifinal round of the CCS Tournament.
MC played the Mountaineers tight in the first half, heading into the break down just 39-32. The score was tied 29-29 with 4:45 remaining in the second quarter, but Berea went on a 10-3 run to close out the half.
The Mountaineers took control in the second half, outscoring Maryville 35-16 over the final 20 minutes of play. They improved to 23-3 on the season and will host Belhaven Saturday afternoon in the CCS Tournament Championship.
"We ran into a really good team," Maryville head coach
Darrin Travillian said. "In my mind, obviously they have the conference player of the year, But they also have multiple First Team All-Conference type players."
"I loved our fight in the first half, we did some good things on both ends of the floor. In the third quarter they came out and punched us in the mouth, and we had a really tough time coming back from that. But our girls never quit, they kept scrapping. We fought as hard as we could fight and that's all you can ask for."
Emma Huskey led Maryville in both scoring and rebounding. The junior finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds in the contest. She also recorded a block and a steal on the defensive end of the court.
The Future is Bright
MC finished the season with a record of 13-13 overall and a conference mark of 10-6. Both records represent a two-game improvement over the 2022-23 squad that finished 12-15 and 8-8 in conference play.
13-of-16 players on Maryville's roster are first-year or sophomore student-athletes. With that said, Coach Travillian is encouraged about the future of his squad.
"This team has improved in one year than any team I've ever had in one season," Travillian said. "By the second half of the year, we were back to playing Maryville basketball, the way that I like to play it. Guarding people, pressuring people, pushing the ball up and down the floor."
"The team that you saw in January and February, look a lot like my teams that have hung banners and won 75 percent of their games. The trajectory of the program is exactly where I want it. When we start cutting down nets again it will be because this team put us on that path."
Maryville began its season 2-6 before the new year but came back from Christmas break and hit a groove, closing out the season with an 11-7 record including a 7-2 mark at home.
Farewell to Carruthers
Courtney Carruthers, a fifth-year senior guard played in her final game as a Scot Friday night, scoring six points and recording five rebounds.
"I talked about this on senior day and again tonight after the game," Travillian said. "I am incredibly proud of everything she has accomplished on the floor. Every time we played she came out as a marked player because people knew, yet she still consistently performed and put the numbers up."
"What I'm even more proud of is how she has matured over her time in this program, the way she grew, and the team player she has become. I'm excited to see what she will do in this next phase in her life"
Carruthers finished her career with 1,699 points in 112 games played for an average of 15.2 points. She's a career 36.7 percent shooter, including a career 32.1 percent from beyond the arc. She hit her 200th collegiate 3-pointer early this season and finished her career with 206 triples.
