Published: December 04, 2008 10:42 am            

Rams open league season Friday at Marion

By JEREMY HALL

jeremy.hall@register-news.com

MARION — The last time the Rams took the floor at Marion High School’s Virgil “Cuss” Wilson Gymnasium, they left with a regional championship.

Along the way Mt. Vernon picked apart the host Wildcats in the semifinals in a miracle comeback that saw the Rams rally from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter before winning in double overtime.

While two key components of that win — E.J. Randolph and Truvaunty Badger — are now playing at Rend Lake College, there are many on the Marion bench who remember well Mt. Vernon’s 61-60 double-overtime win in the Class 3A semifinals in February.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” said Marion coach Aaron Mattox. “If you can lose and it hurt worse than that, I don’t know how.”

The Rams will play at Marion for the first time since that epic battle on Friday in both team’s South Seven Conference opener.

Among those still suiting up for the Wildcats is senior Brandon Knight, who led all scorers in the regional semifinal with 23 points but missed the final two minutes of the game after suffering an injury while driving to the basket.

Knight (5-10) and fellow senior Brandon Woods (6-2), as well as junior Nick Lewis (6-5) all average double figure scoring for Marion, which is 4-1 on the season.

“They’re a good team,” said Mt. Vernon coach Scott Gamber, whose team finished 2-2 at the Alton Tip-Off Classic last week. “They’ve got a lot of guys that can hurt us.”

The Rams will be without another key player in last year’s regional semifinal as senior Bryce Kujawa — who knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in that game — has been sidelined with an ankle injury since an opening-night loss at Alton.

In Kujawa’s absence, junior Logan Murphy has made 10 of 21 attempts from beyond the 3-point line in three games. He has averaged 11.3 points a game since Kujawa’s departure from the lineup.

Senior Jacob Alvis has tallied 13 points and nine rebounds a game for the Rams and along with Murphy was named to the all-tournament team at Alton.

Gamber acknowledged that last year’s game would likely be on the minds of participants this weekend.

“The way the year ended with them last year I think emotions will be high on both sides,” he said.

The second-week conference opener is a change from recent years for the league.

“I think our conference is going to be up overall this year,” said Mattox. “I think in the long run [the early league games are] going to be a good thing. It’s just a big conference game early.”

“In our conference, as balanced as it is, every game is a huge game,” added Gamber. “Centralia goes to Carbondale Friday night. We go to Marion. If you can get wins on the road in our league I think you’re one game ahead of the rest of the field. So I think Friday is a big game for us.”

The junior varsity game is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Friday.

        

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