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PUBLISHED: Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Barrons' late triples stun Redskins, 51-49

Sinks seven three-pointers for Raiders


SANDUSKY – Jordan Barrons has had a hot hand on different occasions this season, but nothing like the torch he carried Friday night.

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The Marlette senior forward sent his teammates and the visiting fans into a frenzy with three triples in the last 45 seconds, including the game winner at the buzzer, in a stunning 51-49 win over Sandusky in GTC East play at the Thumb Dome.

In the second half, Barrons, a 6' junior guard, kept the Raiders within range of the Redskins, who had led nearly all night. He clicked for a pair of triples in the third quarter and a couple more earlier in the fourth. Barrons, who ended with 21 points, saved his last three for a dramatic finish.

"He's dangerous when he gets those hot flashes," emphasized Chris Storm, Marlette coach. "When he starts believing in himself , he thinks he can make anything."

The Raiders, who trailed by eight, 36-28, going into the final quarter, actually got a start on the rally with a three-pointer from Austin Comment with about 1:15 to play that shaved the ‘Skins' lead to 45-42.

Sandusky went back up by five on a jumper by Sam Stevens, but Barrons countered with the first of three straight from beyond the arc.

With just over 17 seconds to go, guard Derek Neumayer sank a pair of free throws to put Sandusky back up by four, 49-45. Barrons, though, popped another long jumper to make it 49-48 with eight seconds left.

Marlette immediately fouled Neumayer. When he missed the front end of the one-one, the Raiders' John Bishop swiped the rebound, his eighth of the game, with 4.8 to go. He fired an outlet pass to Comment, who then found Barrons on the right sideline. Barrons quickly squared and found all net as time ran out.

You know, we did a nice job of managing the clock at the end," said Storm, "but he still had to make all of those shots.

"It was great," said Storm on his team's celebration. "Anytime you can beat Sandusky, especially on their home floor ....it's our rivalry, at least it has been since I've been coaching, and our kids really get fired up for them."

While Marlette was celebrating, the Redskins were left in disbelief. Coach Kurt Long's team had suffered two narrow, overtime losses the week before that had put them out of title contention in the East.

"We were in shock after the game," said Kurt Long. "That's the third game in the last four that we lost at the end. But, give him (Barrons) credit. He hit seven threes."

Long added, "We're playing hard, we just have to keep going after it."

Marlette, now 4-3 in the division and 6-7 overall, also had eight points from Comment and seven from Shane Mitrovich.

The Redskins, 3-4 and 6-7, were led by 6'5" senior Matt Grabitz with 14 points. Tyler Loding and Neumayer followed with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Sandusky 62 Mayville 53

The Redskins may have been suffering from a letdown after two emotional losses the week before, but still turned in a grind-it-out performance in last Wednesday's GTC East win.

After leading by just two, 24-22, at halftime, Sandusky turned it up a notch in the third quarter to build a 44-34 edge.

"We were a little flat," admitted Long. "But, the guys played hard throughout the game. We got the stops when we needed them."

Balanced scoring, led Stevens' 16 points, was a big plus for the ‘Skins. Grabitz and Loding each added 12 and Neumayer tossed in 11. Grabitz also totaled seven rebounds.





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