SECTION GIRLS BASKETBALL: Tigers use key run in second half to take out Mankato East
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MARSHALL - Guided by another stingy defensive performance, the No. 3 seed Marshall girls basketball team advanced to the Section 2AAA semifinals with a down-to-the-wire 48-43 home victory on Tuesday over the No. 6 seed Mankato East Cougars.
The Tigers, who were forced to shake off a poor shooting display in the first half, went on to catch fire in the second highlighted by a key-sequence of four straight baskets from beyond the arc created from their full-court press.
Marshall coach Dan Westby called the run crucial to the end result, and came away pleased overall with the defensive effort shown throughout the contest.
"We were able to get so much out of our pressure," said Westby. "We forced 16 turnovers in the first half but just couldn't convert any of them into points, and really had a tough time getting the ball to go in the basket. To our kids' credit, we kind of persevered in that second half and had a really nice push there with our pressure and then we did convert a number of steals into points. I think that was kind of the difference in the margin of victory."
The exceptional defensive effort by Marshall in the first half loomed large in the outcome of the game as the Tigers ability to shutdown the Cougars offensively kept them within a single possession of Mankato East all the way to halftime in spite of a rocky shooting performance of their own.
In total, the two teams traded leads five times before the Cougars emerged with a slim 20-17 lead at the half.
When play continued for the final 18 minutes of action, the Cougars opened up the scoring with a 6-2 run to push their lead to seven, but saw it evaporate in a matter of minutes as the Tigers began to heat up from beyond the arc. Beginning with a made basket by Paige Andries, the Tigers cut the deficit to a pair thanks to a three by Lenei Estrada on their next possession to make it 26-24.
Far from finished, the Tigers put together their best offensive stretch of the game in the possessions that followed as Abigail Wendorff, Estrada, Kaia Sueker and Andries all knocked down threes before Jordyn Hilgemann took a steal the other way for an easy layup to give Marshall its largest lead of the game at 38-30.
With the momentum shifted swiftly to their favor, the Tigers went back to work with a relentless effort for boards and steals that kept the Cougars at bay in their attempt to mount a comeback.
According to Westby, the effort shown by his club throughout the game in attacking the rim and grabbing rebounds was evident, and has been something he has been preaching all season long.
"I think one of the things we talk about is lets get every 50-50 ball," said Westby. "If there's a ball between us and them let's make sure we come away with it, and I thought our kids did a really nice job of that."
With the clock winding down and the Tigers clinging to a 43-41 lead, the team picked up a big basket from Hilgemann to push the lead back to two possessions. In the final minute of play, Estrada, Sueker and Meier all stepped to the free throw line and knocked down one of their two free throws to put the Cougars away for good in the 48-43 final.
The Tigers will look to carry over the momentum generated in the win into Saturday's matchup with the No. 2 seed Mankato West Scarlets at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Anticipating a tough test, Westby made it clear that a shooting performance like the one shown in the first half won't get it done against a strong team like the Scarlets.
"It's going to be tough, we play Mankato West on Saturday and they're a better ball-handling team so we're going to have to play that much better on Saturday night," said Westby. "It'll be a tough game. We're going to have to shoot the ball better certainly in the first half."
Marshall 48, Mankato East 43
Mankato 20 23 -- 43
Marshall 17 31 -- 48
MARSHALL: Sueker 3-6 1-2 9, Estrada 3-8 3-4 12, Hilgemann 4-17 6-6 14, Wendorff 1-6 1-2 4, Meier 0-5 4-6 4, Andries 2-6 0-0 5.
REBOUNDS: Mankato East 27; Marshall 15 (Meier 7). ASSISTS: Mankato East 10; Marshall 10 (Estrada 5). STEALS: Mankato East 3; Marshall 19 (Sueker 5, Estrada 5). BLOCKS: Mankato East 8; Marshall 0.