Marietta’s Trey Hawkins, 5, goes for a jumper as Fort Frye’s Kynan Bradford, 24, competes during Thursday’s game at Sutton Gym. (Photo provided by Mike Morrison)
Junior Bass’ time as a Marietta Tiger basketball player is coming to an end, but the Tiger senior did his best to make an impact in his only season in the orange and black uniform.
On Thursday night, Bass led Marietta with 18 points and 11 rebounds, improving to 8-1 on the season despite a 60-36 loss in a Twin State League game to the Fort Frye Cadets.
Bass was transferred from Belpre before the season and has only qualified for 11 games, with only two games remaining.
“Junior has won everything. He makes me smile because he’s become a great leader for us.” Marietta third-year head coach Austin Gardner said. “He holds his players accountable, he works very hard, he sets the tone. He’s been playing like that the last two games, but honestly he hasn’t played like that all year. I have done it.”
The 6-foot-3 Bass proved to be no match for the Cadets throughout the game, as he did all the damage, making 8 of just 12 shots from the field.
Fort Frye’s Chatham Corson (2) takes a shot as Marietta’s Junior Bass looks on during Thursday’s game at Sutton Gym. (Photo provided by Mike Morrison)
“My teammates helped me out and helped me get the ball there and crash the boards.” said Bass. “I feel like I’m getting better every day because Coach (Gardner) pushes me to my limits and teaches me.”
The Tigers led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter, with junior Zyden Wittekind leading the way with two triples in the first quarter.
Bass made its presence felt in the second quarter with a bucket from junior Trey Hawkins.
Bass made a two-point shot off an assist from senior Seth Britton, and Bass made another field goal in transition.
Bass assisted Hawkins on an easy basket inside, increasing his lead over the Tigers to 24-12 and going into his own give-up mode.
Britton’s rebound and two putbacks gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 26-12, but coach Eric Hennigar’s Cadets fought back late in the second half to cut the lead to 29-18 at halftime.
Treven Nicholson and Grady Hesson made 3-pointers in the final 60 seconds of the first half.
The Tigers won the third period by a 9-6 margin and extended their lead to 14 points, but the Cadets got off to a strong start with Nicholson’s 2-pointer in the final period.
However, Marietta saved its best for last, scoring the next 16 points to make things big.
Bass, who played the entire game, made quite an impact, making three more field goals during the run while dishing out another assist to Brayden Jones.
“I think we share the ball well and I love everyone on the team.” said Bass. “They are great teammates and the way we work together is great.”
Gardner, who missed practice due to the snow, was pleased to see his team play its best basketball in the final quarter.
“In the fourth quarter with the starting group, we put pressure on the ball and got out in transition.” said Gardner. “We played Tiger basketball and we played at a championship level.”
Joining Bass in double-digit scoring were Wittekind with 11 points and Hawkins with 10 points.
Marietta outrebounded the Cadets by a 30-16 margin and committed just five turnovers in the game compared to the Cadets’ 19.
Clayton Miller led Fort with an even 12 points and was the only Midshipman to score four or more points in the game.
With this loss, Fort Frye fell to 4-6 overall and 0-3 in TSL play.
The Tigers improved to 8-1 with the win, giving them a perfect 3-0 record in Twin State League play with a rematch against arch-rival Warren on Monday in Vincent.
“It’s going to require teamwork and cooperation.” Bass had this to say about his upcoming matchup with Warren: “Since I was able to do it once, I feel like I can do it again.”
