Philly-Bound: Herd That advances to TBT final four with win over Boeheim's Army

Kane has won four championships in the TBT, including a three-peat with Overseas Elite.

Kane finished as Boeheim’s leading scorer, scoring 15 points on 4-9 shooting, but he probably wishes he was playing for the Marshall-based team.

Herd That took the contest, defeating Boeheim’s Army 88-71 to advance to the TBT semifinals in Philadelphia. It will have a matchup with Heartfire.

The game began with a dominant run on the boards from Herd That. The team found two offensive rebounds in the first minutes, leading to four points from its big man, James Kelly. Two of those points were from an Elmore lob.

Kelly finished with six points and five rebounds.

Herd That found a way to shut down Grant Riller, who entered the matchup as the clear favorite for the best scorer in the tournament, averaging over 20 points per game. Herd That held Riller to eight points.

“Team effort,” Herd That guard Jon Elmore said of the team’s ability to shut down Riller, Army’s leading scorer before the matchup. “One-on-one, it’s hard for anyone in the world to get a stop against a good scorer.”

“It’s hard to get buckets when people are trying to stop you,” Herd That guard Rob Gray added. “That’s never easy. I think we can cut it to team defense.”

Turnovers, though, were the story once the first half ended. Herd That had 10 in the first half, the number it had in its entire matchup with Sideline Cancer.

Once the game was finished, the story was rewritten as Herd That finished with just 12 turnovers in the contest, 2 in the entire second half.

“I think playing with toughness, not looking for foul calls and being strong with the first dribble,” Gray said of the team’s ability to limit turnovers in the second half. “Crisp decisions and not making complicated plays. Basketball is a simple game, and we played to our strengths. Making the right play, you can take good care of the ball.”

Herd That came out in the third quarter with all the right adjustments.

Taevion Kinsey and Jon Elmore added 18 points in the third quarter. Kinsey did not miss a shot as he had seven of his 15 points in the third quarter.

“Taevion is full of ambition right now,” Gray said. “He just wants to play. It’s not new for him to represent. He’s full of contagious energy. He has a young love for the game.”

Herd That outscored Boeheim’s Army 34-13 in the third quarter. Seven different players found the scoring column.

Elmore finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

“Our assistant coach looked at me at halftime and told me ‘You know there’s no losers bracket, right? If we lose, we’re going home,’ he was kinda talking trash to me to tell me to pick it up,” Jon Elmore said with a laugh. “He inspired me. Taevion came out and gave us that spark. Having that depth and the ability to rotate guys to grind teams down and get them tired.”

The run allowed for Herd That to find its biggest lead of the day even though it had not led since the first. It never looked back.

Before the second half, Boeheim’s Army held its largest lead of the night with seven points.

“There were no magic words,” Ot Elmore said of the halftime meeting. “We realized we weren’t playing well and were still in the game. We went to a smaller lineup to try to bring energy. We lucked out and it worked. I would’ve looked dumb if it didn’t.”

Herd That went on a 17-0 run in the second half, giving the team the run that it needed to regain the lead and win the game.

“We were stagnant in the first half,” Jon Elmore said. “Our Marshall style, we want to get the ball out, run and get easy shots. When we got stops and got to outlets, that got everyone into their rhythm.”

“Maybe we’re a second half team,” Jon Elmore said.

“That’s a good thing,” Gray added.

The scoring punch went well with Herd That’s defense as the team held Boeheim’s Army to 10-31 shooting in the second half.

Jon Elmore chalks it up to the fact that Herd That has trouble running out of gas.

“We’ve got 12 guys that want to play the whole game,” Jon Elmore said. “We’ve got high level pros on the bench. They’re giving up minutes to do whatever is best for the team. They’re ready when their number is called.”

After each contest, defense seems to find itself as a question of what has gotten into the team. After all, Marshall’s offense is one known to let up turnovers and points as it outpaces opponents offensively. It’s the same style that the team has played for years.

With new faces, perhaps the team is just defensively sound.

Gray, one of the team’s defensive leaders, says the team’s confidence plays a role.

“If you’re playing against Michael Jordan, you have to have confidence or you don’t have a chance,” Gray said. “64 teams, one gets a million. If you’re not confident, what are you doing here. We came together on a short notice, some of these guys have great confidence, but for the most part we know basketball. Everyone is sure of what guys are good at. As long as we do what we’re good at, there will be no surprises.”

Herd That advances to the TBT semifinals in Philadelphia.

Its matchup is Heartfire, a team that Herd That has a level of familiarity with as it is made up of the remnants of Team 23. Team 23 defeated Herd That in Charleston.

“We have to play someone else first,” Ot Elmore said before being corrected by Gray and Jon Elmore.

“Oh, then yes, I hate those guys,” Ot reiterated with a laugh after realizing that his team would be playing Heartfire. “Revenge is on our mind, but we both have completely different teams. I like our guys.”

Since the last loss, Herd That has added dozens of components, including Rob Gray, leading scorer in Sunday’s matchup with 20 points in 27 minutes.

Gray’s noticed that although most everyone plays professionally, there’s a different level of hustle to Marshall alumni and the TBT.

“We play all year round. It becomes a job and a way to feed your family,” Gray said. “Whether this tournament was for a million, or one dollar, they’d still be in here with that same energy. It all trickles down.”

With the additions, Herd That is now the deepest it has ever been in TBT play. The team reached the quarterfinals in 2020.

Jon’s not one to compare eras.

“It’s hard to compare teams,” Jon Elmore said of the current Herd That team in comparison to past iterations. “Looking at the results, we’re in the semifinals still going for the money. I don’t like to play the comparison game, but living in the moment, this is a heck of a ride.”

“I think we downgraded at two-guard,” Ot Elmore said of himself.