One point.
That's all that the Marietta High boys' basketball team could put on the Sutton Gym scoreboard in the opening quarter against visiting Frontier Tuesday night.
Call it an anomaly, or an abnormality.
No offense (literally), but MHS head coach J.D. Secrest had to be scratching his head and wondering what in the heck's going on here. If not for Braden Riley's free-throw at the 2:50 mark, the Tigers would've been blanked.
"It was scary there for a little bit," said Secrest after the Tigers (1-2) rallied to defeat the Cougars (0-3) 55-33 for their first victory of the campaign.
Scary and embarrassing.
After all, the Tigers had just taken it on the chin in their previous game at Zanesville, dropping a 59-21 decision to a very good Blue Devils team. In that contest, the orange and black put up two three-point quarters and one five-pointer.
Now, MHS was off to another slow start against Frontier, which was also seeking its first win of the season. The Tigers played tentative and like there was a lid on the basket.
Thing is, though, Marietta was still in the game even after a one-point period, because Frontier was also struggling, scoring only eight points for an 8-1 lead.
In some ways, the first quarter resembled a grade-school game with both teams turning the ball over numerous times and missing all kinds of makeable shots.
Marietta still had plenty of time to make up lost ground, and it shook off its opening period scoring slump with a second-period bang. The Tigers scored 15 unanswered points for a 16-8 lead, and never looked back.
At the break, MHS owned a double-digit advantage, 24-12. And, at the end of three, it led 42-16.
More importantly, Marietta played with more confidence after the opening stanza. Tiger sophomore Corey Hill, who had a team-high 14 points in the JV win over the Cougars, provided a boost, scoring a varsity-high 11 markers, including three threes, coming off the bench.
But all in all, it was a team effort.
Now, Marietta has two East Central Ohio League home games scheduled for Friday and Saturday against Dover and Coshocton, respectively.
Dover is coming off a 50-38 setback to Cambridge last Friday night.
Secrest believes that his Tigers are getting better as the season progresses.
"We had one good quarter in our first game (at Claymont) and two good ones at Zanesville," the MHS boss said. "Against Frontier, we played three good quarters. With a young and inexperienced team, that's what we're going to have."
Against Dover, Secrest is hoping for four good ones. And, above all, he doesn't want to go through any more one-point quarters this season.
"We're going to have to be scrappy for 32 minutes," Secrest said. "I think the fans like that, seeing kids diving for loose balls, seeing kids get after it, seeing kids not back down."
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Ron Johnston is the Marietta Times sports editor and can be reached at 376-5441 or at rjohnston@mariettatimes.com
