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PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Marshall boys cruise past Bluejays, 73-59

Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Matthew Onken slams home a dunk during their game against Waseca on Saturday. The Tigers defeated the Bluejays 73-59.

MARSHALL – The last time the Marshall and Waseca boys basketball teams met, a trip to the state tournament was on the line. While the circumstances weren’t as steep on Saturday afternoon, that didn’t stop the two teams from battling to the end.

Just like they did last March, the Tigers were able to pull away with a strong second-half performance, as Marshall took down the Bluejays 73-59. The win snaps Waseca’s 13-game winning streak and marks the third consecutive victory for the Tigers and fifth in the last six games.

The Tigers got the first half started going on a 6-0 run to catch an early lead but the Bluejays came back and tied the score up at 8-8 with 14:44 left in the opening half. The score continued to go back and forth until the Tigers found themselves with a four-point lead at 14-10 at the 13-minute mark. Right from the beginning the Tigers showcased aggressive play on both sides of the court that continued to help maintain Marshall’s lead throughout the half. The Bluejays stayed within striking distance, however, as they trailed by just seven points with 6:13 left to play in the half.

Marshall’s rebounding was key to its offense and gave itself a big advantage under the basket, which allowed its lead to grow to double digits at 31-21 with 3:52 left. The Tigers maintained the final stretch of the first half with their double-digit lead intact and took an 11-point lead over the Bluejays into the break. Matthew Onken led the way for the Tigers at the half with 11 points while Jacob Hess chipped in eight.

Much like the first half, the Tigers came into the second half on fire and ready to dominate the floor with strong and aggressive play. Marshall moved the ball fast on offense which forced the Bluejays to be on their toes at all times. The Tigers held a 10-point lead for a majority of the second half until Bryce Paulsen put up a shot to grow the Tigers lead to 46-32 with 13:43 left in the game. After Paulsen’s shot, Marshall picked up its offense again and found its groove again. The Bluejays closed the 14-point gap to an 11-point gap with just 10:55 left to play, but the Tigers didn’t let that scare them. The aggressive rebounding that the Tigers continued to display kept them ahead and at another 14-point lead at 55-41 with 8:50 left. Waseca saw many sloppy mistakes on defense, causing unnecessary fouls, which gave the Tigers an advantage on offense growing their lead to 67-51. With just a few minutes left to play in the game, the Bluejays started to pick up the pace on both ends of the court to try and close the gap on the Tigers but Marshall stayed focused and finished the night with a 73-59 win over Waseca.

Onken finished the night with a total of 19 points (including going a perfect 9 of 9 from the field) for the Tigers, while Trey Lance added 13 and Hess had 12. Hess was the leader in assists with six while Nick Klaith added three. The Tigers shot 27 of 42 overall and 18 of 28 at the free-throw line.

The key to the Tigers win against the Bluejays was not being selfish with the ball and keeping their minds in the entire game. Coach Travis Carroll saw the team playing well on both ends of the court with a few minor things to be tweaked.

“Our guys did a really good job of sharing the basketball offensively and did a very nice job of moving well without the basketball in our hands and when we were able to make two or three passes we could find a pretty good shot,” said Carroll. “Defensively we did some good things, especially with the rebounds.”

The Tigers will be back in action on Tuesday against Redwood Valley at home.

Going into their next game and the rest of their season, Carroll has seen a lot of positive improvements from the team throughout the season as far as teamwork goes.

“The kids are doing a much better job of working together. As you go through the season you want to see that chemistry starting to build and we’re starting to see more chemistry within our team,” said Carroll. “Communication on defense is getting better and it’s good to see that we’re starting to communicate more but it’s still something that we can work on and build on as we go forward.”

Waseca 28 31-59

Marshall 39 34-73

SCORING: Marshall 27-42, 64.2 percent (Onken 9-9, 1-3 9; Lance 4-8, 4-5 13; Hess 5-8, 2-2 12; Puetz 3-7, 4-4 10; Paulsen 3-4, 4-6 10; Pruszynski 1-1, 2-2 4; Black 1-2, 0-2 2; Klaith 1-3, 0-2 2; Allex 0-0 1-2, 1).

3-POINT FGS: Marshall 1-5, 20 percent (Lance).

REBOUNDS: Marshall 36 (Puetz 8; Lance 7; Onken 5; Hess, Paulsen 4).

ASSISTS: Marshall 18 (Hess 6; Klaith 3; Onken, Bennett, Puetz, Lance 2).

STEALS: Marshall 7 (Hess, Klaith 2).

BLOCKS: Marshall none.

FOULS: Marshall 13.

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