Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On Monday, November 17th, the Marshall High School girls basketball teams traveled on the road to Tuscola High School to take on the Lady Warriors in a non-conference doubleheader to begin the 2025-2026 winter season. Marshall was returning four starters from last year’s squad that finished the season with a record of 16-14, while the Lady Warriors are built around senior point guard Reese Davis, who led Tuscola last year to a regional championship while leading the team in scoring and three-point shooting.
In an opening-season game for everyone, including the three gentlemen in the striped jerseys, this varsity contest between the Lions and Lady Warriors will be remembered for one thing: whistles. A total of 43 personal fouls were called during this 32-minute game, and combined with whistles blown for held balls, traveling calls, double dribbling, et. al, the student athletes playing on both sides never got into any sort of rhythm or flow throughout the evening. Tuscola scored seven straight points in the first quarter after Marshall’s Lynn Welborn got the Lions on the scoreboard with a nice jumper from the right elbow after taking a pass from Marlee Heighton, who drew defenders to her before zipping the pass over to Welborn.
After the Lady Warriors scored 7 unanswered points to take a 7-2 advantage, Marshall got within 2 points when Lynn Welborn scored on a traditional three-point play at the 3:59 mark to make the score 7-5. After the Lions got a stop on the defensive end, Marlee Heighton once again found Welborn, this time on the left block. Welborn went up and scored to tie the game at 7 with 2:01 to go in the opening quarter.
After one free-throw by Tuscola put the home team ahead by the score of 8 to 7, Marshall freshman Lilly Ross swished a three-pointer from deep along the right wing with 31 seconds remaining on the clock to put the Lions ahead 10-8. The basket by Ross was her first bucket at the high school varsity level. In the final seconds of the stanza, Tuscola scored to tie the game at 10 apiece after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter, Marshall’s McKenzie Davis sank a free throw to give the Lions an 11-10 lead before Tuscola’s Reese Davis, who led all scorers on the night with 22 points, sank a shot from the left side, and the Lady Warriors went ahead 12-11 with just under 7 minutes to go until halftime.
The Lady Warriors increased their lead to 18-11 over the next two minutes of action as foul trouble began to hamper the Lions, who had three players with three fouls each midway through the second quarter. At the 4:15 mark before the half, Marlee Heighton passed the ball from the top left side of the arc on a nice backdoor play to Lynn Welborn streaking down the right side of the lane. Welborn gathered the bounce pass and put the ball up and in to make the score 18-13 in favor of Tuscola. That basket by Welborn turned out to be Marshall’s only field goal of the quarter, for the rest of the way until halftime, one free throw each from Kyla Gustafson, Nya Engledow, and Abbie Thompson were the only points scored as the Lions went to the locker room trailing at the half 22-16.
Marshall’s defense to begin the second half was much more active than the Lions defense in the first half. On Tuscola’s first possession, Marshall got a stop, and the Lions immediately pushed the ball up the floor. The Lions worked the ball around the perimeter, then worked the ball down inside the lane to Lynn Welborn, who scored to get Marshall within four points with the score 22-18. Tuscola broke the Marshall press on their next possession and got an easy bucket to go ahead 24-18 before Harper Richardson sank a free throw for Marshall to bring the Big Red within 5 at 24-19 with 4:39 to go in the third.
After another Marshall stop on defense, Lynn Welborn hit a shot to bring the Lions within 3 points with the score 24-21 Tuscola with 4:16 left in the quarter. Welborn now had 15 points to lead the Lions. Tuscola scored on a three-pointer to take a 27-21 advantage before Marlee Heighton sank a floater inside the lane to make the score 27-23. After Tuscola came up empty on their next possession, Marshall came down and got a free throw from Harper Richardson to make it 27-24. One more stop by the Lions defense had the offense churning again. Marlee Heighton dribbled the ball down and passed inside to McKenzie Davis, who fought through contact and scored to make it a one-point game with Tuscola clinging to a 27-26 lead as the Lady Warriors called time out with 2:30 left in the third quarter.
Coming out of the time out, Marshall dialed up the defensive pressure and forced a turnover. The Lions pushed the ball up the floor, and once again Marlee Heighton found Lynn Welborn sneaking through the back door on the right side for a score, and Marshall took the lead with the score 28-27. Tuscola sank a free throw to tie it up at 28 at the 1:43 mark.
The Lions played their most inspired defense to score six straight points in a matter of 40 seconds of play to take a 34-28 advantage into the final minute of the third quarter. Marshall’s defense was absolutely stifling, and the transition from defense to offense led to quick buckets by Lynn Welborn, who slashed down the lane on the left side to score, Ella Mattas, who took a nice pass inside out from Harper Richardson and sank a 12-foot jumper from the right wing for another score, and Marlee Heighton, who went 3/4 of the way down the floor from left to right and floated in a teardrop on the right side of the lane to put the Lions up by 6 in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Tuscola got another basket from Reese Davis to bring the Lady Warriors within 4 at 34-30 down the stretch, but Marshall’s Lynn Welborn scored at the rim 2 ½ seconds before the buzzer, and after three quarters of play, Marshall led 36-30 to the dismay of Tuscola’s vocal student section. Marshall outscored Tuscola 20-8 in the decisive third quarter.
The fourth quarter began as Marshall worked a terrific weave outside amongst Marlee Heighton, Addy Ross, and Harper Richardson in succession handling the ball until Richardson found Lynn Welborn break open down low. Welborn went up and scored to give the Lions a 38-30 lead. After Marshall stopped Tuscola on the ensuing possession, Marlee Heighton took the ball and outraced the Lady Warriors to the goal for a score, giving Marshall a 10-point lead at 40-30 with 7:26 to go on the clock.
Tuscola trimmed the Lions lead to 5 with the score 40-35 when Marshall’s Marlee Heighton hit a runner down the right side of the lane, then Lilly Ross added a free throw to increase Marshall’s lead to 8 with the score 43-35. After another stop on defense, the Lions came back up the floor. Lynn Welborn fought for position and grabbed an offensive rebound. She put the ball back up and in, and Marshall once again had a 10-point lead at 45-35 with 3:56 remaining in the contest.
The Lady Warriors would not go away, however, for the home team charged right back by scoring 7 straight points to get within 3 in making the score 45-42 with under a minute to play. Marlee Heighton stopped the Tuscola run with a runner from the right side as she was fouled. Heighton sank the free throw for the traditional three-point play, and with 25 ticks left on the clock, Marshall led 48-42.
A huge, crucial defensive rebound by Addy Ross on Tuscola’s last possession sealed the deal for the Lions. At the buzzer, Addy Ross was fouled and sank a free throw, and the Lions came away with a hard-fought 49-42 win over the Lady Warriors.
For the Lions, Lynn Welborn scored 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds for a double-double. Marlee Heighton joined Welborn in double figures with 11 points to go along with 5 rebounds. Harper Richardson (4 rebounds) and Lilly Ross (3 rebounds) each scored 4 points, while McKenzie Davis finished with 3 points and 3 rebounds. Ella Mattas had 2 points and 7 rebounds, while Addy Ross (5 rebounds), Kyla Gustafson (5 rebounds), Abbie Thompson (1 rebound), and Nya Engledow each had one point. Karsyn Johnson finished the night with 2 rebounds.
In the junior varsity game preceding the varsity contest, Marshall led 8-6 after the first quarter of play during which a 35-second shot clock was used for the first time in a game. Mckenzie Davis led the way in the first quarter for the Lions by scoring 5 points, while Aubree Shaffer sank three free throws in the quarter.
The Lions JV squad opened the second quarter with possession, and they worked the ball down to Kyla Gustafson, who backed her opponent down in the lane and scored to give Marshall a 10-6 lead. A three-pointer by Nya Engledow from the top right of the key gave the Lions a 13-6 advantage with 6:11 to go in the half. On Tuscola’s next possession, Marshall’s Mckenzie Davis stole the ball and turned up court. She found Nya Engledow running down the right side, and Engledow put the ball up and in to make the score 15-6 with 5 ½ to go before halftime.
Tuscola answered with four straight points to make the score 15-10 in favor of Marshall before Macy Roberts sank two free throws at the three-minute mark to give the Lions a 17-10 lead. The Lady Warriors cut the deficit to two points before the halftime buzzer, and the teams went to their respective locker rooms with Marshall leading 17-15.
After a couple of empty trips for each team to start the third quarter, Marshall got a three-pointer by Nya Engledow from up top to give the Lions a 20-15 lead with 5:50 to go on the clock in the third. Lilly Ross stole the ball from Tuscola on the next possession, and she went coast to coast for the score to make it 22-15. After the Lions got a stop on defense, Lilly Ross drained a three-pointer from the left wing to make the score 25-15 in favor of the Lions.
After Tuscola scored to make it 25-17, Marshall’s Aubree Shaffer led a Lions fast break down the floor. She passed the ball down low to Kyla Gustafson on the right block. Gustafson was immediately double teamed, so she passed the ball over to McKenzie Davis on the left side, and Davis went up strong and scored to get the Lions back to a 10-point lead at 27-17 with 1:25 to go on the clock in the third quarter. Lilly Ross added a free throw, and Marshall went to the final seven minutes of play leading 28-17. The Lions outscored the Lady Warriors 11-2 in the third quarter to take a commanding 11-point lead.
The teams played to a stalemate over the final quarter of play with each side scoring 5 points. The Lions got a field goal each from Lilly Ross and Kyla Gustafson. Nya Engledow added a free throw, and when the final buzzer sounded, Marshall won the junior varsity game by the score of 33-22.
Nya Engledow led the Lions balanced scoring attack with 9 points and 3 rebounds. Lilly Ross finished the game with 8 points and 9 rebounds. McKenzie Davis scored 7 points and led the team with 10 rebounds. Kyla Gustafson finished with 4 points and 7 rebounds. Aubree Shaffer finished the night with 3 points and 6 rebounds. Macy Roberts made her debut for Marshall, finishing with 2 points and 1 rebound, while Aria Ogle finished the night with 2 rebounds. Jayden Jones also saw playing time for the Lions in the win.
Marshall (1-0) returns to action this Friday night when the Lions host Altamont for a non-conference doubleheader inside McNary Gymnasium. It is the first home game of the season for the Big Red. The junior varsity game tips off at 6:00 PM, with the varsity contest to follow. Come on out to McNary Gymnasium and support our student athletes. Elphaba and Glinda can wait until the weekend to see you at the movie theater.
Marlee Heighton goes up for 2 of her 11 points
Ella Mattas had 7 rebounds and this big block in the win over Tuscola