Willie Guy sparks huge burst for Cedar Rapids Jefferson in 51-37 win over Marion

CEDAR RAPIDS — After a back-and-forth first quarter, Willie Guy took over.

The Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior guard opened the second quarter with 10 points in a row as the J-Hawks used a 27-3 surge to defeat Marion, 51-37, and concluded the first day of the inaugural Wells Fargo Advisors Shootout Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I started hitting a couple of shots, getting a little bit more comfortable,' said Guy, who finished with a game-high 17 points and four steals. 'We all started moving the ball around. … Just started clicking on offense.'

Jefferson (4-7) trailed Marion at the end of the first quarter, 11-9. Guy opened the second frame with two 3-pointers and a pair of drives to the basket for 10 quick points that gave the J-Hawks a 19-11 lead.

'He never surprises you, what he can do,' Jefferson Coach Brandon Horman said. 'He works so hard every single day in practice. It's enjoyable to see his hard work come out when the lights are on.'

A Marion 3-pointer by Chase Zeilke merely paused the Jefferson outburst, as six other J-Hawks contributed to a string of 17 consecutive points that pushed the advantage to 36-14 early in the third quarter.

'We started getting multiple stops in a row, then started getting easy runouts to start getting our big men going,' Guy said. 'Everything just started clicking from there.'

Marion got as close as 12 points midway through the fourth quarter at 46-34, but a Jefferson 3-pointer by Kyler Bell and a final basket from Guy kept the Indians at bay.

'Last night we didn't play our best game (an 80-53 loss at Waterloo West) and they responded tonight with outstanding effort,' Horman said. 'That's what we expect of ourselves and I'm very proud to bounce back.'

Bell finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while junior Kyran Ligon added eight rebounds.

Zeilke led Marion (5-6) with 14 points, while Trevor Paulsen tallied 10 with six rebounds.

'Chase is a shooter,' Marion Coach Mike Manderscheid said. 'When he touches the ball, you can hear every opposing coach shout, 'Shooter, shooter, shooter.' He has the capability of lighting it up from the outside.'

The second day of the Wells Fargo Advisors Shootout is Jan. 20 at the U.S. Cellular Center. The area teams represented include Cascade, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Iowa City West, Linn-Mar, Solon, West Delaware and Western Dubuque.

'Real good event,' Guy said. 'We all had fun, we bonded as a team and it was a nice thing coming here to the Cell Center.'

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

MARION (37):

Alex Whalen 0 0-0 0, Chase Zeilke 5 0-0 14, Austin Prier 1 0-0 2, Matthew Brase 0 0-0 0, Blaik Swailes 0 0-0 0, Jevin Manderscheid 3 0-0 6, Trevor Paulsen 3 4-5 10, Grant Meth 1 0-0 2, Connor Whalen 0 0-0 0, Mason Rahe 1 1-2 3, Rick Atkins 0 0-0 0, Garrett Hansen 0 0-0 0, JD Grawe 0 0-0 0, Totals 14 5-7 37.

C.R. JEFFERSON (51):

Ozzie Meiborg 0 0-0 0, Kyler Bell 6 0-0 14, Kyran Ligon 2 0-0 4, Willie Guy 7 1-1 17, TJ Kuennen 2 0-0 5, Evan Griffith 0 0-0 0, Brayden Frazier 0 0-0 0, Raejzuan Shockley 2 1-2 6, Zach Grant 0 0-0 0, Blaze Bouzek 1 0-0 3, Dymonte Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Sam Staley 0 0-0 0, Jetmir Zeneli 0 0-0 0, Ryan Blum 1 0-0 2, Totals 21 2-3 51.

Marion 11 3 10 13—37

C.R. Jefferson 9 14 17 11—51

Halftime — Jefferson, 23-14. Three-point goals — Marion 4 (Zeilke 4), Jefferson 7 (Bell 2, Guy 2, Bouzek 1, Kuennen 1, Shockley 1). Rebounds — Marion 26 (Paulsen 7), Jefferson 30 (Bell 8, Ligon 8). Assists — Marion 8 (A. Whalen 3), Jefferson 9 (Bouzek 3). Turnovers — Marion 15, Jefferson 12. Total fouls — Marion 7, Jefferson 18. Fouled out —

None.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com