Marshall: An all-around performer

Kenisha Marshall has been a target all season as opponents have tried just about every strategy to shut her down. Getting noticed by opposing coaches has resulted in double-teams and tight defenses, but it’s also resulted in Marshall being selected as an All 8th Region performer.

JOHN SHINDLEBOWER for The Spencer MagnetSCHS’s Kenisha Marshall has been selected as an All 8th Region performer.

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Lady Bears Coach Daniel Cox announced Marshall’s honor this week as his squad is hoping to erase a less-than-stellar end to the season as they gear up to enter tournament play.

Marshall has led the Lady Bears for the past couple of seasons, and has helped steer the team toward success, going from a program that for years had languished at the bottom of the standings, to one that’s respected in the region, as evidenced by two consecutive winning seasons.

The senior center finished the regular season with 1,233 career points, 915 rebounds and over 200 blocked shots. If the Lady Bears can put together an impressive run in postseason, Marshall may have a shot of scoring 72 more points, which would tie her with Roxanne Perry as the program’s all-time leading point producer. Cox points out that such an accomplishment may have been within closer grasp had the girls not had three games scratched from their schedule because of snow.

While the honors and records for Marshall continue, Cox said he’s been most impressed by her attitude.

“Kenisha has been a pleasure to coach this year. Most superstars develop an attitude that makes them hard to work with, but Kenisha has been just the opposite. She’s stayed humble and uses every bit of information she can in order to make herself better,” said the coach.

Cox said it’s never about individual accomplishments for Marshall, which endears her to both him and her teammates.

“Above all else, Kenisha realizes that she could never have accomplished so much without her teammates, and that is what makes her a class act. For all of these great qualities, I pray that God blesses her future.”

That future begins tonight as Marshall and the Lady Bears look to take the program one more step and advance in the playoffs. They’ll square off tonight at 6 p.m. in Lawrenceburg against Shelby County in the 30th District Tournament.

The Lady Bears lost a last-second heartbreaker to the Lady Rockets in Taylorsville earlier in the season on a controversial officials’ decision that put extra time on the clock. But that game is history and tonight’s survivor will advance to take on the winner of Anderson County and Eminence.

In the Lady Bears’ last regular season win, a 49-42 win over host Trimble County, Marshall had a typical game, scoring 18 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, notching another double-double. But for the Lady Bears to be successful, they need balance, and they got it in Bedford last week as Chelsea Gross also scored 15 points, Jayme Thomas added nine and Shelby Pfeiffer scored 8. Point guard Ashley Wiley directed the offense and dished out nine assists.

Cox said that kind of balanced effort will be needed in the postseason.

“I feel as if all of my girls are good scorers. We just need to put it all together on the same nights instead of only having one or two scorers a game.”

He said there have been nights when that balance has been there, and those nights are usually winning ones.

“We just need everyone clicking on all cylinders at the same time,” said Cox.

While Marshall may be the key that starts that engine, Cox said he’s confident his girls have what it takes to drive them to new heights this postseason.