Massillon traveled down the road to Canton’s Memorial Fieldhouse on Saturday for the annual “Shot Clock Shootout”. The Tigers fast-paced play fit well into the unique style of the tournament, which is the only game where Ohio high school teams are allowed to play with the inclusion of a shot clock. Massillon scored 53 in the first half but only led by 6. They opened up a 21-point lead in a big 3rd quarter and continued to roll until the final buzzer in a 108-83 victory over 7-1 Elyria.
1st Half
The Tigers drew first blood as Braylon Gamble rebounded the ball off of an Elyria miss and fired a baseball pass to Gio Jackson Jr., who laid it in for 2. An Xavier Williams layup and a Braylon Gamble 3-pointer opened up a 7-2 lead for Massillon, but a back-and-forth flurry of points kept the game close. Williams, who would go on to score 25 and be named game MVP, added a pair of 3s during the furious run. Jackson slammed it home as the Tigers pulled away once again to take a 18-11 lead. Terrion Wells laid one in off a missed shot and Williams connected again from 3 to open up a 27-15 lead– Marcus Garner completed an and-1 to put Massillon up 30-17 after 1 quarter. Jadyce Thigpen laid one up and in to start off the 2nd quarter and put it in once more on a long pass after an Elyria miss. The Pioneers put together a run on a 4pt play and a 3-pointer, but Jackson hammered one home and nailed a 3 in response. Gamble stole the ball and took it all the way for a layup to make the score 41-24 in favor of the Tigers. A steady dose of driving to the hole helped the Tigers continue to outpace the Pioneers, but Elyria turned up the heat and cut the lead to 11 with 3 minutes left in the half. They kept up their run for the final 3 minutes, narrowing Massillon’s lead to 53-47 at the half.
2nd Half
Braylon Gamble took the ball to the hoop and was fouled while rolling it home to open the 3rd quarter. After making the free throw, the Tigers got the ball back on a miss and Gio Jackson Jr. laid it in. He followed it up with another layup off of an Isaiah Lamp steal. Elyria broke the Tigers 7-0 run with a 2-point shot, but Braylon Gamble responded with a jumper in the lane. Lamp took it to the hole to extend Massillon’s lead to 64-49. The Tigers continued to roll as Xavier Williams blocked a shot and proceeded to take it to the basket for 2 and Lamp nailed a 3. Jadyce Thigpen hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 19. Gamble and Marcus Garner added layups, Jackson thumped one home, and Isaiah Lamp scored off a fast break to make the score 81-62 at the end of the 3rd. Garner had a pair of putbacks (including a 3pt-play) and helped extend the Tiger lead to 22 in the 4th quarter. Lamp and Williams both went on 5-0 runs of their own to put Massillon up by 28. The Tigers broke triple digits as a Thigpen and-1 gave them a 102-75 lead. The Tigers wound it down with their backups and Jackson finished it off with one last dunk as Massillon took home a 108-83 victory.
Stats
Xavier Williams, 25 points; Gio Jackson Jr., 19 points; Isaiah Lamp, 16 points; Braylon Gamble, 15 points; Jadyce Thigpen, 15 points; Marcus Garner, 9 points; Terrion Wells, 6 points; Isaac Maxheimer, 3 points
