Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Yahya Black puts up a shot during their game against Windom Area on Friday. The Tigers defeated the Eagles 88-23.

MARSHALL — The No. 5 Marshall boys basketball team put together perhaps its most impressive display on Friday night, as 15 different players scored while the defense held Windom Area to less than 25 points – including just six in the second half – en route to an 88-23 victory over the Eagles.

Marshall assistant coach Mike Christianson said they try to primarily focus on their defensive efforts and help that guide them on both sides of the floor, something he felt they did a nice job of executing against Windom Area.

“We really concentrate at the defensive end of the floor and try to make that work for us both defensively and then to create our offense, get in transition and get easy baskets,” Christianson said. “That seemed to work for us well; we had a couple opportunities where we didn’t defend the three very well right away in the first half, but other than that, the kids had good effort and I thought they played well together sharing the basketball.”

Starting strong

Right from the opening shot, Marshall brought the energy, as its first points on the board were delivered from Yahya Black on a perfectly-swished 3-pointer from the corner. From there, the Tigers controlled the pace, going up 7-3 before a dunk from Matt Hmielewski gave Marshall a double-digit lead at 21-11 near the midway mark. Thanks to some stingy defensive play and aggressive scoring, Marshall continued to extend its advantage over the next few minutes, as a 3-point play from Hmielewski made it 34-17 with four minutes left in the half. The Tigers then bookended the frame just as they started it, this time with Josh Baker drilling a 3-pointer at the buzzer to close a 47-point first half by Marshall and make it 47-17.

Christianson said their key offensively was their ability to share the basketball and find the open teammates on the floor.

“I think sharing the basketball,” Christianson said. “We had a little bit of a slow start where we took some threes against their zone and they weren’t really dropping but when we started making the extra pass and cutting to the basket, then things really started to click a bit.”

Defensively sound

Looking to keep its momentum going, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas pedal to begin the second half. Marshall quickly went on a 12-0 run highlighted by a pair of dunks from Trey Steinbach and Noah Puetz to make it 59-17 before the Tigers extended their advantage to 67-17 with 12:18 left.

The defensive effort by Marshall proved to be too much for Windom Area, as the Tigers held the Eagles scoreless for nearly a 10-minute stretch that spanned from the last four minutes of the first half carrying into the second half. Christianson said they were able to improve on their energy and communication as a defense as the game went on and felt they did a nice job of forcing the Eagles to find scoring chances elsewhere on the floor.

“We talk about energy and focus and communication and the kids really started to communicate,” Christianson said. “We talk about defending personnel; Windom has a number of guys that can shoot the ball very well from the perimeter, so our goal was to take that perimeter shot away because I think they hit four threes in the first half and I didn’t think we defended that part well in the first half. The second half I thought we did a much better job of getting out and taking that away from them and trying to make them do something different.”

With their reserves in, the Tigers cruised the rest of the way, leading by as many as 65 on their way to victory.

Four Marshall players scored in double figures, led by Black’s 15 points while Puetz added 13 and Steinbach and Chase Douglas each had 10. Black led in rebounds with seven while Puetz added five. Jack Bly, Hmielewski, Puetz and Dean Pochardt led in assists with two each. As a team, Marshall shot 59.4% (38-of-64) from the field, including seven 3-pointers and 5 of 12 from the free throw line.

Defensively, the Tigers held Windom Area to just 20.6% shooting (7-of-34), with five of those made shots coming on 3-pointers.

Up next

Marshall (20-1) will continue its homestand today against Faribault at 4 p.m. Christianson said their biggest takeaway will be to maintain their focus and energy level as they prepare for another back-to-back this weekend.

“Just to maintain that focus,” Christanson said. “Anytime you play back-to-back, you’ve got to have energy and focus and be ready to compete every time you take the floor no matter who the opponent is going to be.”

Marshall 88, Windom Area 23

Windom Area 17 6 – 23

Marshall 47 41 – 88

Scoring: Marshall (Black 7-8, 0-0 15; Puetz 6-10, 1-1 13; Douglas 4-5, 0-1 10; Steinbach 5-7, 0-0 10; Hmielewski 3-4, 1-4 8; Bly 3-4, 1-4 8; Lance 3-6, 0-1 6; Baker 2-5, 0-0 5; Runia 1-1, 0-0 3; Aufenthie 1-4, 0-0 2; Pochardt 1-1, 0-0 2; Toulouse 1-2, 0-0 2; Wilts 1-2, 0-0 2; Leibfried 0-0 1-2 1; Paulsen 0-0, 1-2 1).

Rebounds: Marshall 37 (Black 7; Puetz 5; Aufenthie, Baker, Hmielewski 4).

Assists: Marshall 14 (Bly, Hmielewski, Puetz, Pochardt 2; Abdi, Black, Douglas, Lance, Runia, Wilts 1).

Steals: Marshall 5 (Baker, Hmielewski, Puetz, Pochardt, Steinbach 1).

Blocks: Marshall 1 (Hmielewski).