Marietta Escapes With 53-50 Win Over Walton, Improves To 6-1 In Region Standings

On Friday, the Marietta Blue Devils Girls basketball team hosted the Walton Raiders in a region match up in which the Blue Devils needed to secure a win in order to keep pace with region standings leader, the North Paulding Wolfpack. The night begin with Marietta head coach, Derrick DeWitt being honored for reaching his 200th career win this season. Once the game got underway, the Blue Devils established control relatively early in the game as they led 20-8 at the end of the first quarter. Walton would out perform Marietta in the second quarter as they outscored the Blue Devils 11-9, however they still trailed 29-19 at the half. Walton would continue to battle their way back into the game throughout the second half, outscoring the Blue Devils 13-9 in the third quarter to trail 38-32 heading into the fourth quarter and then the Raiders would open up the fourth quarter on a 15-8 run led by Tomisin Adenupe (21 points) and would take a 47-46 lead, which would be their first lead of the night. However, Marietta would survive the late Walton attack and regain the lead and outscore Walton 7-3 down the stretch, which included several clutch free throws by Chloe Sterling (23 points) to close out and escape with the 53-50 win. Marietta's Lauren Walker finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Walton's Lexy Harris would finish with 11 points. Watch highlights from the game below now!