Rasnick Nets 25 in Victory Over Huntingdon; Senior Day This Saturday

MARYVILLE – One thing seems certain: Maryville has the back end of these new back-to-back weekend games figured out.

The Scots once again won big on Day 2 of their weekend set. In fact, they defeated Huntingdon on Sunday by the same 96-61 score line as they took down Belhaven last Saturday.

Maryville moves to 9-8 overall and 3-2 in the CCS. That's a tie for third with Berea but is just one game behind first-place Belhaven at 4-1 and a half-game behind LaGrange at 3-1. The Scots still have games remaining at Belhaven and LaGrange, so everything remains right in front of them despite the frustrating results of the past 10 days.

"There's nothing we can do about what has happened in the past, but we can definitely affect how this narrative ends," Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said. "We control our own destiny. We've got to win our home games and then go on the road and do it, but we've been a pretty darn good road team in my tenure here.

"I was happy to get the home win in front of a good crowd and have some nice performances."

Myles Rasnick produced one of those games, scoring 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor and adding five assists and four steals. Jackson Garner with 14 and Chase Morgan with 10 were the only other Scots scoring in double figures as Maryville produced a box score with 12 different players with at least a bucket.

Rasnick and the Rookies

Rasnick was the only veteran starter for the Scots on Sunday. Joining the senior guard was the first-year grouping of Garner, Morgan, Jaylon Green and Jose Rodriguez.

"He was just trying to get energy into the starting lineup," Morgan said of his starting assignment. "Our bench has been really good lately; we've been bringing energy. Coach wanted to see how we would do starting off."

Huntingdon hung around in this one through about the 12-minute mark of the second half. It was 36-32 Maryville at the half and still a ballgame at 55-47 Scots with 12½ minutes to play.

But Maryville finally wore the Hawks down with a blistering 35-3 run over the next eight minutes to salt this one away. That was part of a 60-point second half for the Scots, matching their season-high from the 101-73 win over Greensboro back on Dec. 6.

"We just got to continue to worry about 'we' and not 'me,'" Morgan said. "Jose has to rebound, and we've got to help him out. Keep feeding Myles the ball, get Jackson the ball, do our roles and we will win some games down the stretch."

Scots by the Numbers

Garner finished 4-of-6 from 3-point distance, improving to 34 made threes and boosting his percentage from downtown to 39.5. Rasnick was 4-of-4 at the free throw line and stands at 91.1 percent for the season. He's also up to 860 career points as he chases that coveted 1,000-point mark.

Rodriguez tied for game rebounding honors with eight, pushing his season average to a team-leading 6.8. And the DM combo of Darius Martin and Devin Mixon had the crowd going late, and they even assisted on baskets by each other.

First Mixon fed Martin for a rim-rattling dunk and then the next time down the floor, Martin fired to an open Mixon the wing for a swishing 3-ball that lifted the Scots to a 90-50 cushion with 4:15 remaining.

"Much better today," Placeres said. "We shot our 45-35-70 (actually shot 51.5 percent from the floor), finished with more than 15 assists and held the opponent under 70. That's our formula. We answered the bell today."

Maryville is back in action Saturday for Senior Day against Berea. Festivities take place between games of the 2 p.m. doubleheader.