The Marshall County Tigers played the role of Grinch on Saturday afternoon when they defeated tournament host Lawrence County 60-50 at the Wildcat Christmas Classic to snap a two-game losing streak.

MCHS (6-3) appeared headed for a relatively easy victory after racing out to a 29-17 lead in the first half, but Lawrence County (8-5) came storming back in the third quarter and rallied to tie the game at 39-39 late in the stanza.

The Tigers, however, managed to right the ship and outscored the Wildcats 21-11 the rest of the way to claim their sixth win of season.

Great win

"We could have sat there and pouted after losing to Collinwood yesterday, but we didn't. We came out and played a strong first quarter and extended the lead in the second," said Marshall County coach Adrian Wilson. "Lawrence County is a solid, well coached team so this is a heck of an accomplishment to come here and win on their home floor."

Bolstered by a 7-of-8 shooting performance in the fourth quarter, the Tigers shot a blistering 52 percent from the field overall, which included a 6-of-15 effort from three-point range, while committing only 11 turnovers.

Malik Sain drilled five treys and led Marshall County with a game high 22 points, while Walker tallied 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots. Jay Howard also added seven points, while Kacy Pleas, Steven Dangerfield, and Tre Crutcher chipped in three points apiece. Darious McKenzie and Quavion Harris rounded out the scoring for MCHS with two points each.

Shots miss

Although Lawrence County outrebounded MCHS 30-28 and held a 10-6 edge on the offensive glass, the Wildcats shot just 38 percent (20-of-52) from the field and made only 5-of-25 attempts from beyond the arc.

Bryce Clifft paced Lawrence County with 14 points, while Parks Hartsfield notched 12 points. Kirk Kemp added nine points for the Wildcats as well and Peyton Sockwell had five points.

The Wildcats inched out to an early 4-3 lead, but the Tigers countered with an 8-3 spurt, highlighted by a pair of threes from Sain and Dangerfield, to pull ahead 11-7 with 2:50 left in the first quarter.

Tigers stay ahead

After Lawrence County outscored MCHS 6-4 over the next 2:40 to cut the deficit to 15-13, Walker converted a three-point play in the waning seconds of the first quarter before Sain buried a trey and Walker hit a layup early in the second period to give Marshall County a 23-13 advantage.

The Wildcats notched four of the next six points to narrow the gap to 25-17 midway through the second quarter, but the Tigers scored the final four points of the half on a couple of short jumpers from Harris and Crutcher to take a 29-17 lead into the break.

In the third quarter, Lawrence County suddenly caught fire offensively and put together a 22-10 run to knot the score at 39-39.

Final quarter

The Tigers managed to withstand the Wildcat flurry and outscored Lawrence County 8-1 over the next 2:45 with the help of six points from Sain to seize a 47-40 advantage early in the fourth quarter.

Kemp knocked down a three to slice the deficit to 47-43 before Marshall County tallied six of the next nine points thanks to a pair of baskets from Walker and a McKenzie layup to stretch their lead to 53-46 with 2:36 left.

After Kemp canned another trey to close the gap to 53-49, the Tigers closed the game with a 7-1 spurt on the strength of three free throws and a couple of layups from Walker and Sain to seal their 60-50 victory.