Leopard Nation takes Over Marlington 72-59

Louisville 72, Marlington 59

An unwanted scuffle, hard fouls, and a change of jersey.  Mitch Sluss endured all three things Friday night at Marlington High School, but none of them phased him.  Sluss dropped in 23 points and Owen Gramoy poured in 22 more to convincingly lead the Louisville Leopards (6-3, 5-1) past the Marlington Dukes (3-3, 3-3) 72-59.

The Louisville Student Section Played a Huge Role in Momentum Swings Friday Night!

Things did not get off to a smooth start for the Leopards in the first quarter. Marlington jumped out to a 12-3 advantage thanks to three first period buckets by Lucas Strouble and two makes from downtown by Jesse Carpenter.  But, the Leps spread the ball around and clawed back within 16-12 by the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Dukes could not hold back the Leopards storm. Sluss buried back-to-back three-pointers from NBA range to give the Leopards a 19-18 lead. Then after both teams exchanged possession on steals, Sluss forced a jump ball with Strouble and a small scuffle broke out.  Sluss came out of the pile appearing to have absorbed a cheap blow, but sucked it up and played on.  Is it possible to ignite someone that’s already on fire? It is!  Sluss scored 14 of his 23 points in the second quarter alone.  He capped off a 19-0 Leopards scoring run by stealing the ball from Strouble, and then canning a three on the other end to give the Leps a 35-18 lead with just a half a minute remaining in the quarter.  Louisville took a 37-23 lead into the break.

Some were more Rowdy than Others...

The Leopards put the cruise control on in the third quarter and let Marlington squeak back into the game.  Six Marlington players scored in the period as they outscored Louisville 17-11.  But, Toby Minster did take some of the momentum away from the Dukes by delivering a piercing block of Josh Draper’s shot.  Minster finished with a double-double performance that included 13 points and 13 rebounds.  Louisville headed into the final period up 8.

The final period dragged on due to a host of fouls against the Dukes.  Sluss, despite having to change his jersey to number 50, presumably from blood on his number 23 jersey, hit his fourth trey of the night.  Gramoy remained consistent as he did throughout the entire game with some shifty takes to the baskets, and thus ended up scoring a pair of field goals in every quarter.  Louisville sunk 13 of 18 shots from the charity stride and Sluss & Gramoy each scored 8 in the final eight minutes,to help the Leps tie the knot on their fifth straight conference victory.

OTHER NOTES:

• Louisville and Marlington each hit the same amount of field goals (16), but Louisville had more than double them in free throw attempts (29-18) and made more than triple their made shots from the line (19-8).

SCORING:

LEOPARDS: M. Sluss 5 9-15 23, Gramoy 8 4-4 22, Minster 6 1-2 13, Kelly 1 4-6 7, Schooley 2 1-2 5, Buccasso 1 0-0 2, TOTAL 23 19-29 72

3PT (7): M. Sluss (4), Gramoy (2), Kelly (1)

TEAM FT: 19-29 66%

DUKES: Carpenter 4 3-4 15, Strouble 6 0-1 12, Draper 3 2-2 8, Knisley 4 0-2 8, McDonald 3 0-1 7, Mosnot 1 3-4 5, Hill 2 0-0 4, TOTAL 23 8-14 59

3PT (5): Carpenter (4), McDonald (1)

TEAM FT: 8-14 57%

NEXT GAME: The Leopards will next travel to Lake on Tuesday, January 11 to take on the Blue Streaks. JV tips off at 6:00, while varsity begins at approximately 7:30.

VIDEO:

JV REPORT:

Louisville 78, Marlington 43

Jake O’brien poured in 22 points as the Leopards JV squad dominated the Dukes from start to finish. Every single JV player scored for the Leps as they ripped the Dukes for 28 points in the seond quarter.  The JV improves to 8-1 on the season.