Photos by Abby Diggs and Carly Williamson
MARYVILLE – A 9-4 record never looked so good.
Maryville made it five wins in a row here Wednesday with a 99-58 thumping of Warren Wilson. The Scots have won the last 16 meetings against the Owls, and this one saw Maryville hand out 31 assists on 39 made baskets.
That's the most assists by a Maryville squad since Nov. 24, 2014, when MC produced 31 dimes in a 97-68 home victory over Johnson.
Against another challenging nonconference slate, Maryville has rallied to post a 9-4 mark that matches last season's results against non-league opponents. The Scots were 4-4 on Nov. 26 after losing 87-82 at Berea, but Maryville head coach
Raul Placeres felt his team had another gear.
"I really wanted us to get to 9-4 entering conference play," Placeres said. "We played a hard schedule, with nine games away from home. But we were figuring it out and got some big wins over the last month. Winning the Roanoke tournament was huge for us, and it has jump-started us right into conference play."
Friday's expected snowstorm has postponed Maryville's Collegiate Conference of the South opener until Tuesday at home against Asbury. The Scots were scheduled to face Belhaven on Saturday in Mississippi, but that doubleheader has moved to Feb. 21.
Wednesday night against Warren Wilson, Maryville set season highs with 99 points, 15 made 3-pointers, 31 assists and 55 rebounds. The Scots led 58-23 at halftime and reached 98 points on a dunk by
Malachi Chipp with still 3:55 remaining.
But the first century mark of the season will have to wait.
"We shot the ball really well and really shared it," Placeres said. "It was nice to see
Javi Rosell with the team-high seven assists. Just finding guys, he made some nice passes and got everybody going. We had six guys with three or more assists. That is pretty darn good."
Kemp, Garner Combine for 45 Points
Reed Kemp scored 24 points and
Jackson Garner added 21. The sharpshooters combined for 11-of-19 from long range, with Garner tying his career high with seven 3-pointers. Garner was 6-of-9 against Warren Wilson in the first meeting back on Dec. 4.
"We shot the ball extremely well from deep, and 31 assists on 39 made field goals – that's big time," Placeres said. "We won the rebound battle significantly (55-38, Maryville's best margin of the season) and we held the other team to 30 percent from the floor and 13 percent from three, which is really hard to do."
Keith Williams grabbed seven boards in 8½ minutes of game action to miss his career rebounding high by one.
Darius Martin rocked the rim with six points and four boards in a little over four minutes, and
Kyle Cloninger scored 10 points with five rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers. Over his last six games, the Morristown frosh is averaging 9.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
"We've got to continue to play with that mentality of owning the boards of sharing the basketball, shooting the ball with confidence," Placeres said. "And it was great to see 14 different guys getting into the scoring column.
"I am proud of finishing 9-4 in nonconference play after facing nine games away from home against some tough competition. That is why we are at a better point than we were last year."
Maryville hosts Asbury in Tuesday's league opener. MC leads the series 3-0, but the teams have not met since December 2021. The Eagles are 4-9 overall and 0-1 in the CCS after losing 87-68 Saturday at Piedmont. Their Tuesday game at Covenant was postponed.
"The crowd was good today and, hopefully, we gave them something to want to come back and see us," Placeres said. "When you score nearly 100 points and shoot the way we did, it hopefully bodes well for the second half of the year."
Fun Facts
Maryville is 18-3 over its last three Januarys and 34-15 the last four years against nonconference opponents ... Placeres has 88 collegiate head coaching wins ... After starting 0-9 in his debut season of 2019-20, he is 88-31 (.739) since.
