CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Seniors Bryson Bain, Chris Marshall and Marquese Gardlock walked out of the locker room at Tippin Gymnasium, arms locked and wearing No. 76 football jerseys before the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference championship game Saturday night.
It was in honor of the McGuire family. The three played football with Anthony McGuire, also a senior. McGuire’s younger brother, Alex, a sophomore at Redbank Valley, died Friday morning.
“I think when we found out the news — we already wanted to win the KSAC — but it just put more fire into us to win it for the community and for Alex,” Gardlock said. “I said to the team, ‘We have to do this for Alex.’
“The community always has our back. A lot of us were good friends with Alex, and I played on the football team with his brother. I think we’re all going to be there to support their whole family.”
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Redbank Valley (21-3) already had plenty of motivation. Playing with heavy hearts did nothing to stifle the Bulldogs’ recent momentum.
Redbank did what Redbank has done virtually all season long: get a big leads early, put a boot to the opponent’s neck late.
The Bulldogs did it again against North Clarion on the way to a 65-41 victory and a KSAC Tournament crown.
“They wanted to honor their friend,” said Redbank Valley coach Emmanuel Marshall. “I can remember when they were little and playing football. We car pooled and picked up those boys every day for practice — they live a quarter of a mile up the road. Kids are resilient, and I’m glad they were able to recover and move forward a little bit.
“With all the things going on, it was a good win for the program.”
Bain got Redbank Valley going with four 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Bulldogs led 18-10 after one.
The closest North Clarion got was 21-18 midway through the second quarter.
Gardlock then hit a pair of 3s and Redbank kept adding on to its lead to take a 38-23 advantage into the half.
Collin Schmader and Aiden Hartle each scored 12 to pace the Wolves, who trailed by as many as 26 in the fourth quarter.
Gardlock, the tournament MVP, finished with 18. So did Bain. Chris Marshall added 15, including two thunderous dunks to get the big Redbank Valley crowd fired up.
Those three are a problem for every team the Bulldogs face. Bain and Marshall are 6-foot-4. Gardlock is listed at 6-5. They can all shoot from the outside, slash to the rim, or hit mid-range jumpers.
Gardlock arrived last year after sitting out his sophomore season when he transferred from Farrell.
“It’s fun because we all have the same kind of game, but in different ways,” Gardlock said. “When I wasn’t here, Bryson was the point guard. Moving me to point guard has allowed Bryson to score even more. I think that let Bryson show a different part of his game. Then Chris, getting those dunks, I think that plays a big part.”
Coach Marshall is certainly glad he doesn’t have to game plan against those three.
He’s content to have them in his arsenal instead.
“They’re a mismatch nightmare,” the coach said. “Whoever has the hot hand, we go with it. They’re so unselfish. A lot of times you hear people say we don’t have enough basketballs, but they’re playing together and they share the ball.
“Chris and Bryson got their 1,000 (career) points, you know, so it’s been all about the team,” Coach Marshall added. “If Bryson scores two points, I don’t think he cares as long as we win. If Chris scores two points, I don’t think he cares as long as we win. All three are more concerned about getting everybody else involved and getting those buckets for the other guys.”
Redbank Valley has now won 16 straight games.
Part of the reason for the sluggish 5-3 start was the long football season the Bulldogs enjoyed.
Many of the players on the basketball team also played football and it took time for them to get their basketball legs under them.
Gardlock admitted it was difficult for the football players to leave the gridiron behind for the hardwood.
“At the beginning of the season, it was just like I still wanted to play football,” Gardlock said. “Once I got deeper into the season, I had a talk with my football coach (Blane) Gold and he told me the guys on our team want to experience the same thing we had in football. That just put more fuel on our fire.”
The march the football team took to Hershey and the PIAA championship game is something the basketball team wants to recreate.
One step on that journey is complete: a KSAC championship.
It’s the first title-game win for the Bulldogs since the KSAC began playing it in 2007.
Redbank Valley was a double KSAC winner – the girls also brought home a title over North Clarion.
“We got to check one of the boxes,” Coach Marsall said. “KSAC was the first thing we wanted to do. We want to focus on one thing at a time.
The District 9 playoffs begin next week, but the Bulldogs received a first-round bye and will play either Clarion-Limestone or Keystone March 1.
If things shake out the way Redbank hopes, a PIAA run is next on the docket.
“They want an experience like the football team had,” Coach Marshall said. “I’ve been telling the guys for years that we were going to win a state championship, but the football team beat us to the state championship game. I think we have a good shot at representing D9 well. We’re playing good basketball. It’s starting to come together. But you know — D9 — any given night. We have to stay ready and focused.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
