MORAN For about 5 fleeting minutes, a young Marmaton Valley High squad was trading buckets with a potent Northeast-Arma offense.
Alas, the Vikings found a higher gear, more than enough to cruise to what become a 76-23 victory in the opening round of Marmaton Valleys preseason basketball tournament.
The loss drops Marmaton Valley to 0-2 on the season. The Wildcats resume tournament play Thursday evening against Madison.
Unlike their season-opener four nights earlier against Uniontown, Marmaton Valleys offense was clicking at the outset.
Keyed by sophomore Quincy Adams, Marmaton Valley stayed within a basket or two of Northeast for much of the first period.
Adams drilled a 3-pointer from straight away, and scored twice more on short runners. Meanwhile, Bo Knavels free throws midway through the first period knotted the score at 9-9.
That was about the time Northeasts Matt Cashero and Jasper Atchison took matters into their own hands.
Cashero scored 12 of Northeasts 16 first-quarter points, and 10 more throughout the game. Meanwhile, Atchison exploded for 13 in the second period alone many coming from furnover-fueled layups as part of a 40-6 Viking run.
By the time the dust settled, Northeast led 49-15 at the break, triggering a running clock through the balance of the second half.
Adams wound up with 13 points to pace the Wildcats. Bo Knavel added six.
Cashero scored 26 points and Atchison 15 for Northeast. Isaac Jurkovic chipped in with 11.
BOX SCORE
Northeast (16-33-15-1276) (FG/3pt): Alters 2-0-0-4, McCauley, 0/1-0-1-3, Cashero 11/1-1-1-26, Jackson 2-0-2-4, Claffey 2/1-0-0-7, Jurkovic 5-1-1-11, Dugan 1-0-2-2, Atchison 7-1-1-15, Keidal 0-0-3-0, Richard 2-0-1-4. TOTALS: 32/3-3-12-76.
Marmaton Valley (11-4-4-423) (FG/3pt): Drake 1-0-1-2, McVey 1-0-2-2, Cook -0-01-0, Adams 5/1-0-3-13, Woods 0-0-1-0, Scharff 0-0-1-0, Knavel 2-2-0-6. TOTALS: 9/1-2-8-2
