Sun-Democrat, Tuesday, December 23, 1973

 

Murray High Upsets Carlisle In Two-Overtime Duel, 69-65

Tigers Win Mayfield Crown

 

By Jerry Atkins, Sun-Democrat Sports Editor

 

Mayfield, Ky.--Completing  one of the most remarkable recoveries ever witnessed in West Kentucky basketball history, Murray High School’s battling Tigers upset previously unbeaten Carlisle County in the championship of the Mayfield Christmas Invitational here last night.

  Down 17-4 after the first quarter and trailing by 15 points during the early stages of the second frame, Murray came back to force the favored Comets into a double overtime before claiming a 69-65 hard-earned decision.

 

Strange as it may seem, Coach Bob Toon’s Tigers never led during regulation play, although they forced four second-half deadlocks.  Murray’s very first lead came during the early stages of the first overtime and the Tigers controlled the tempo through most of the remaining action.

 

Big Danny Hudspeth, a husky 6-2 senior center, controlled the boards during the important fourth period and the two three-minute extra frames.  And, he scored five of Murray’s nine points in the deciding overtime period before fouling out with 15 seconds to go.

 

Hudspeth finished with 11 points, all of them coming down the stretch when the Tigers were struggling to keep pace with the hustling Comets.  And, senior guard Glenn Jackson, a 5-11 hot shooter, cashed 14 of his 22 points after the break to complement the effort by the Tiger center.

 

Murray’s other two starters who finished in double figures, 6-4 sophomore Bob Wilder and 6-2 senior Tyrone McCuiston, contributed most of their offensive effort in the turn-around second quarter.  Wilder, who scored eight straight points during one stretch, made all 12 of his tally during the second frame, while McCuiston produced seven of his 12-point effort.

 

Those four did the scoring and 5-11 senior guard Ray Lane controlled the action throughout, but Coach Toon credited his bench with coming to the rescue.  “Our bench did a superb job,” the jubilant coach said after receiving the big trophy for claiming the championship.  “It was just a super effort,”  the veteran Tiger coach continued.  “Our kids were a little flat early, but they showed a lot of character by coming back.” 

 

And, come back they did!

 

Murray counted only two of 13 field tries during the opening eight minutes when it appeared someone had left the lid on the Tiger goal.  Meanwhile, Carlisle was making eight of 13 field tries and vaulted into that 13-point lead at the stop.

 

But, the Tigers finally caught fire during the second quarter, through the efforts of Wilder and McCuiston.  Outscoring the Comets 25-14 in the frame, M:urray hit on nine of 17 fielders and went into the halftime break only two points down, 31-29.

 

Carlisle’s downfall obviously came at the free throw stripe although the Comets hit only a third of their 15 shots during that turn-around quarter.  The usually hot-handed Yellowmen made only four of 10 free throws during the period, and three of those six misses were the first shots of bonus situations.

 

Carlisle’s failure at the stripe helped Murray claim a 21-10 edge during the final six minutes of the half after Carlisle had streaked into a 21-6 advantage at the 6:01 level.

 

The favored Comets still held the upper hand during the early stages of the third quarter although the pesky Tigers refused to fold.  After trailing by five points most of the frame Murray finally pulled even for the first time at 46 with 17 seconds showing on the clock. Hudspeth, who had been watching from sidecourt since early in the second frame because of foul problems, returned to action with 3 ½ minutes to go in the third quarter.

 

It was his putback that produced the first tie, but Carlisle regained its edge when junior forward Robert Martin hit from the corner at the horn.

 

Jackson produced another tie three seconds into the final canto by taking the tip in for a layup, but Carlisle used two quick buckets by Robert Martin to produce a four-point lead they held through the next four minutes.

 

Then, the Tigers took advantage of a five-minute “cold” snap suffered by the Comets and forced another deadlock at 56 with 2:13 left in the game.  Reserve forward John Shelley made the bucket on a layup.

 

Carlisle’s Mike Woods, who had just replaced center Thomas Jenkins who exited with his fifth personal, gave the Comets a 58-56 advantage with just over a minute to go in regulation play, but Jackson came back with a pair of free throws seconds later to knot it at 58.  Numerous violations and failures in the shooting department kept the action at a peak through the rest of the fourth quarter, but neither team could score.

 

Hudspeth then gave Murray its first lead of the game only 29 seconds into the first overtime by pulling down an offensive rebound and putting it back.  A half minute later Robert Martin cashed a short jumper to tie it at 60 again, although action was fierce, neither team could score.  They played the last two minutes of the first overtime without a point clicking the scoreboard.

 

McCuiston produced Murray’s second lead almost a minute into the deciding extra period by taking a pass from Lane and driving home for a layup.  Then Hudspeth started his personal scoring blitz with a three-point play at the 1:35 level, producing a 65-60 Tiger lead.  John Martin came back with a pair of free throws five seconds later but Hudspeth took a feed from Shelley for a layup and another five-point advantage with 1:12 to go. 

 

John Martin counted three more free throws in four attempts during the next hectic minute of play to pull the Comets to within two 67-65, but Lane iced the Tiger victory with a pair of gratis tosses at the 12-second stop.

 

It was a thrilling finish to a championship battle.   The two teams finished on almost even terms in shooting, Murray making 26 of 60 tries for the game and Carlisle 26 of 63 shots.  The final margin then came at the stripe where the Tigers hit 17 of 24 attempts and the Comets made 13 of 21.

 

Both teams lost three starters during the late goings because of fouls. 

 

Hudspeth and McCuiston were credited with  15 and 13 rebounds respectively as the Tigers claimed a  48-35 edge under the boards.  But, most of the bulge came after the first quarter when the hustling Comets claimed an edge, especially under its offensive basket. 

 

The Martin brothers--Robert and John--turned in a brilliant offensive show for the Comets.  Robert, a 6-1 junior, cashed a game-high 13 fielders--exactly half of Carlisle’s output -- and counted 28 points before fouling out with 48 seconds to go.  John, a 5-8 sparkplug senior guard, made nine of 12 free throws, including all five of the Comet points in the second overtime and added five fielders for 19 points.

 

The victory avenged Murray’s only setback of the season, a 75-66 Carlisle win on the Comet floor just 11 nights earlier.  The Comets made 13 of 18 fourth-quarter free throws in that first meeting, a phase of the game they didn’t master last night.

 

Carlisle, the First Region’s top-ranked quint in the Sun-Democrat’s poll of coaches, nipped second-ranked  and tournament host Mayfield 57-56 in Friday night’s semifinal showdown.  It was the 12th straight win for Coach Tom Buchanan ‘s Yellowmen and left them as the Region's only unbeaten team.

 

Now, the third-ranked Bengals have seen to it that no unit in the Purchase Area will go through an unbeaten season.  Murray upped its record to 7-1 with its three-game tournament sweep, blasting highly regarded Bowling Green 86-52 in the opening round and Lowes 80-56 in the semifinals.