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PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Balanced offense leads Tigers to victory

Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Blaise Andries (40) shoots the ball just over the outstretched arm of a Mankato East defender Saturday.

MARSHALL – The Marshall and Mankato East boys basketball teams played a makeup game from earlier in the season on Saturday night. The Tigers made it up in a big way, as Marshall defeated the Cougars 70-53.

The Tigers jumped all over the Cougars right from the start, opening the game with an 8-0 run. Marshall held Mankato East scoreless from the field for over six minutes before the Cougars finally got on the board.

Marshall later increased its lead to double digits, a margin that never broke the rest of the game. The Tigers went up 24-9 before leading 36-21 at halftime.

In the second half, Marshall only improved on offense, building a 20-point lead at 45-25 with 15 minutes remaining. The Tigers’ advantage never went under 16 points the rest of the way, as Marshall earned its sixth consecutive victory.

Weston Baker Magrath led the way for the Tigers with 15 points while Trey Lance had 14 and Zach Bloemker added 12. Mitchell Sueker poured in 10 points to round out the double figure scorers for Marshall. Lance led in rebounds with seven while Reece Winkelman dished out three assists.

Bloemker said he was pleased with their ability to find the extra pass throughout the game, which led to quality looks.

“We were really looking for the extra pass. We had two, three or four of them on our possessions, which led to really good looks and uncontested 3-pointers as well as some drives into the lane, which was good,” said Bloemker. “We also had a lot of points off the bench which was nice to see.”

Marshall coach Travis Carroll said their key on the defensive end was their communication.

“As coaches, we thought that we had a good first half defensively,” said Carroll. “They were communicating really well and doing a good job of defending away from the ball and just working together.”

Marshall (10-1) will face Jackson County Central on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

Bloemker said their biggest takeaway was using the confidence they gained from the game and putting it toward Tuesday’s matchup.

“We definitely get more confidence from this, as Mankato East is a very good, athletic and strong team,” said Bloemker. “We were able to work on our rebounding and boxing out because in the first half we were outrebounded, but in the second half we definitely worked harder and hustled more.”

Mankato East    21 32 – 53

Marshall    36 34 – 70

SCORING: Marshall 25-53, 47.1 percent (Baker Magrath 7-10 1-3 15; Lance 4-9 5-8 14; Bloemker 4-10 2-4 12; Sueker 3-6 3-4 10; Hess 3-6 1-2 7; VanMoer 2-3 0-0 6; Ektanitphong 1-2 0-0 3; Andries 1-4 1-2 3).

3-POINT FG: Marshall 7-14, 50 percent (Bloemker, VanMoer 2; Lance, Ektanitphong 1).

REBOUNDS: Marshall 35 (Lance 7; Andries 6; Baker Magrath 5; Winkelman 4; Sueker 3; Bloemker, Hess 2; Ektanitphong 1).

ASSISTS: Marshall 14 (Winkelman 3; four with 2; three with 1).

STEALS: Marshall 7 (Baker Magrath, Lance 2; three with 1).

BLOCKS: Marshall 3 (Baker Magrath).

FOULS: Marshall 17.

TURNOVERS: Marshall 5.

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