Megan Marston’s hot hand helps Plum girls start 3-0

By: Michael Love
Saturday, December 9, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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Megan Marston got off to a hot start for the Plum girls basketball team.

The senior guard had a pair of 22-point efforts in wins over Freeport and Highlands at the Freeport tip-off tournament the weekend of Dec. 1.

Marston then hit for 31 in helping the Mustangs (3-0) roll past Beaver, 62-38, on Dec. 4.

While Marston, one of the top scorers the past couple of years in the Alle-Kiski Valley, is a centerpiece player for what Plum hopes to do this season, her goal is to help make it a total team effort for its goals and expectations.

“I dedicated a lot to offseason work and practices,” Marston said. “For me, it didn’t just start (on Nov. 17). It started way before this season. That is the attitude we all had. We couldn’t wait. We had to be ready and prepared.

“Senior year, this is my last shot and the last shot of all of the seniors.

“Plum girls basketball has never won a section title, and we want that this year. There is a different sense of knowing that there is no next year that helps motivate you more. The seniors are the most experienced and also the ones with the most pressure. I want to rise to the occasion every game and do my part to help the team win games.”

Marston had a breakout season as a sophomore two years ago.

With an increased role in the offense after the graduation of Kennedie Montue, Plum’s all-time leading scorer, Marston responded by leading the Mustangs in scoring at 15 points a game in and out of what was a rugged Section 2-5A.

Her efforts were rewarded with selection to the Section 2 all-star first team.

Marston was happy with her play on the court, but she wanted more for the team, which slipped to 3-9 in section and 6-14 overall.

Determined to help lead Plum back to the WPIAL playoffs, Marston made her mark again last year.

She averaged 18.2 points for the Mustangs, who scored a big win over Indiana late in the section slate that put them in the WPIAL tournament field.

Marston collected a game-best 23 points against Montour in a preliminary round victory.

She showed her abilities going to the basket, with a midrange jumper, and from beyond the arc.

Marston again earned all-section first-team laurels and was a Valley News Dispatch first-team pick for the second time.

“I’ve worked on my midrange and 3-point shot, and I started in the spring and summer really working on game-simulated things,” she said.

Marston noted her work with Highlands graduate Micah Mason, who finished with 2,272 career points, ranking him 12th at the time on the all-time WPIAL boys career scoring list.

He also broke TJ McConnell’s WPIAL record for 3-pointers with 346 over his four-year tenure with the Golden Rams.

“I went to him for some additional training, and he helped me make a tremendous difference in my shot,” Marston said. “He knows more about the fundamentals of a 3-point shot than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Marston said she also doesn’t have to look beyond home for additional guidance outside Plum workouts and practices.

Colleen (Connors) Marston, Megan’s mother, was a two-sport standout — soccer and basketball — at Gateway. She helped lead the Gators girls soccer team to an undefeated section championship in 1992, and she finished her basketball career with 1,227 points, one of the highest totals in program history.

She went on to St. Francis (Pa.) and helped the Red Flash women reach the NCAA tournament in 1996.

In 2010, she was inducted into the Gateway Sports Hall of Fame.

“I wish I had seen film of her playing, but she won’t show it to me,” Megan Marston said with a chuckle. “Basketball-wise, she is my biggest role model. She knows a ton about the game because she played for so long. She was a point guard, and you have to know so much. She will always look up videos, drills and take notes about different teams. We take all that and use it to help me. I have never questioned her knowledge.”

She also looks to her father, Jay, on the faculty at Plum, for guidance in the sport. Jay has a court-side seat for Plum games as the team’s scorebook keeper.

“It is a totally family thing that they are so supportive of me to want to see me get better, and it definitely has shown,” Marston said.

The Mustangs kick off section play Friday at Gateway at 6 p.m.

“Megan definitely is a leader for us both on and off the floor,” Plum coach Rich Mull said. “She has such good vision as far as seeing things develop on the court. She understands what she needs to do as far as scoring to help the team, but she is also very committed to getting her teammates involved. She knows how important it is to have others feel more confident in scoring the basketball because we need that to be successful.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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