It was tough, it was gritty and it certainly wasnt pretty but for Marmaton Valley head coach Jason Bauer and his team, it was exactly the type of game they were looking for.
The Wildcats hung on at Uniontown to win their season opener 49-43 and that was something they hadnt done in several years.
This was the first time since Ive been coaching here that we started the season with a win, Bauer said. It feels a lot better than losing.
If were going to win ballgames, these are the types of games were going to have to force, Our goal was to keep them in the 40s if possible but no higher than 55 because we cant afford to get in a shootout. And today we did that.
The Eagles didnt make it easy. Several times down the stretch, the Wildcats squandered a double-digit lead thanks to quick hands and quick feet of the Uniontown defenders.
With 4:15 to play in the fourth quarter, the Eagles had cut Marmaton Valleys lead to 33-30 on an 8-2 run. Senior guard Gage Griffith had been off all night and had spent a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble but Bauer sent the senior back out to try and stem the Eagle tide.
Within seconds, Griffith maneuvered his way to five straight points and pushed the Wildcats lead back to eight.
He likes to play fast but he has to understand that we have to pull it out and run our offense and try to get good shots, Bauer said. When he did that, he was very effective in the paint but his shot wasnt falling from the outside. Its just a mental part of the game.
Marmaton Valley pushed their lead back to 10 with 3:25 to play but Uniontown whittled that down again by the two and a half minute mark and it became perfectly clear that the game was destined to be tight down the stretch.
The Wildcats ended up shooting nine free throws in the fourth quarter and missing just two while the Eagles shot two and made just one.
The biggest key was the free throw line, Bauer said. Thats where we separated from them.
Griffith ended the night with 12 points but while he struggled through much of the second and third quarter, it was his fellow seniors Caiden Elliot and Isaac Heskett who helped bridge the gap.
Elliot was on fire from behind the arc, hitting five threes including two at the buzzer at the end of the second and third quarter putting his point total at the end of the night at 16.
Heskett meanwhile was physical down low and finished when he needed to, ending the night with 11 points.
Im not sure how many rebounds he had but he came in on both ends and followed his shot, Bauer said. Hes a space-eater and he came up big.
Junior Collin Dudley had five points, sophomore William Lowder had three points which all came from clutch free throws in the fourth quarter and junior Alec Cochran had two points.
