Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forward Ashton Blomberg (right) looks to take a shot in the post during the first half of a boys basketball game against No. 2 Mankato East in Marshall on Jan. 15. The Tigers took on Mankato West in the Section 2AAA quarterfinals on Wednesday, falling 88-54

MANKATO — The second-seeded Mankato West boys basketball team looked every bit the part of the No. 10 basketball team in all of Class AAA on Wednesday night. The Scarlets pulled away from the seventh-seeded Marshall boys basketball team late in the first half of the Section 2AAA quarterfinals and never looked back, handing Marshall an 88-54 season-ending loss.

“Our offense was pretty efficient in the first half. We were getting some open looks around the perimeter, got some pretty good 1-on-1 looks near the basket… but second half we didn’t feel like we were efficient,” Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said. “When they were making a run on us, it felt like there were a few possessions where we kind of hurried or didn’t execute offensively where we needed to. That was something that could’ve been better, but there were definitely some positives that the kids showed offensively tonight.”

Mankato West also handed Marshall its first loss of the season back on Dec. 12, ending the Tigers’ 3-game win streak to open the season with a 72-51 loss.

For the first five minutes of play, Marshall remained in a competitive, back-and-forth game with the Scarlets. Landon Dimler gave the Scarlets the first points of the game with a 3-pointer from the wing but a Carter Kepler offensive rebound set up the first of two Jack Meier layups on consecutive offensive possessions.

The Scarlets blocked a Marshall shot out of bounds on the next possession but the ball went out on Mankato West. The Tigers took advantage, finding Cooper Mensink on the baseline inbound for an easy layup, giving Marshall a 6-5 lead 2:15 into the game.

Talay Sartell put Mankato West right back on top with a layup of his own but a JR Vierstraete free throw tied the game up again. Dimler then backed into the post to create space before knocking down a fadeaway to give the Scarlets a 9-7 lead. They ultimately carried that lead to the final buzzer.

Mankato West’s big 3 of Dimler, Steinke and Maurice Staley all had big nights. Steinke led the team with 21 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the field while Dimler and Staley added another 20 points each on a 71.4% effective field goal percentage for Dimler and 52.9% for Staley. Sartell also finished in double figures with 10 points.

“They’re a tough matchup. They’re very talented basketball players, gifted with size and physicality,” Caroll said of Mankato’s top scorers. “In the second half, we looked to do a little bit of zone to try to help with that but they were able to find some good looks as well. We were looking to double in the second half… but we never got in that situation any time where we could execute.”

As a team, Mankato shot 71.1% on 2-point attempts and 42.9% on 3-pointers. Marshall was fairly efficient at 45.2% on 2s and 38.9% on 3s but couldn’t keep pace with the Scarlets.

A Kepler 3-pointer cut Mankato West’s lead to 14-10 seven minutes into the game. From there, however, the Scarlets went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes before a Jackson Baynard 3 got Marshall back on the board and Alex Franson drove and kicked to Braxton Koster in the corner to cut the deficit to single digits, 23-16, with 10:17 remaining in the first half.

Franson hit a shot from the corner with his toe on the line a minute later to make the score 26-18 but Mankato West locked in defensively from there. The Scarlets held the Tigers scoreless for over five minutes and pulled away for a 16-point lead before Franson and Baynard ended the drought with a pull-up jumper and a corner 3. Marshall was never able to come back within single digits. A Kepler 3 at the buzzer sent Marshall into the locker room for halftime trailing 46-32.

“We had 32 at halftime. That’s not a bad number on offense… When you’re at 32, you’d hope to be within about 5 to 7 points going into halftime and that wasn’t the case,” Carroll said. “Overall, first half, we had some pretty good execution on offense but then looking back at the defense, we gave up a lot of high-percentage opportunities for Mankato West. They’re a team that’s got some solid players and we needed to do a better job of trying to put them in a tougher situation and taking lower percentage shots.

Franson was the only Tiger to finish in double figures on the night, scoring 10 points on 4 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 from 3-point range. Baynard also added another 8 points on perfect 3 of 3 shooting while Mensink contributed 7 points on 3 of 6 from the field.

Mankato picked up where it left off after the break, outscoring Marshall 7-0 to start the final 18 minutes of play. Franson got Marshall on the board with a 3-pointer 2:18 into the half and knocked down another stepback 3 on Marshall’s next trip down the court to make the score 53-38. Yet, the Scarlets responded with a 15-3 run to eliminate all hope. Just when JR Vierstraete ended the run with a dime to Meier for a layup, Staley answered with a 3-pointer for the Scarlets.

Dimler’s 12 rebounds and Steinke’s eight led Mankato West to a 33-19 rebounding advantage. Meier and Mensink led the Tigers with three rebounds each and no Marshall players finished the night with multiple rebounds.

Mankato led by 40 points, 88-48, with 3:55 to play. Both teams substituted out their starters for the final minutes and Marshall’s three baskets did nothing to eat into the deficit.

Marshall was fairly effective at limiting its turnovers, though Mankato West still held an 8-10 advantage in the turnover battle. Dimler led the Scarlets with three steals. As a distributor, Franson led Marshall with three assists on just one turnover.

The Tigers finish their season at 9-18 on the year after losing each of their final eight games. Carroll said that the focus this offseason is going to be about being more disciplined on the defensive end of the court, staying in position when off the ball and staying in front of on-ball opponents.

Marshall graduates five seniors on the season, including Carter Kepler, Braden Myhre, Drew Parsons, Jackson Baynard and Ashton Blomberg. Carroll noted that this year’s group faced a particularly challenging freshman year, a season shortened due to COVID-19 regulations, but that he appreciated that they stuck through the hard times and continued to work hard for the team all throughout their high school careers.

“A lot of these kids were with us in their elementary years all the way through junior high years and their senior year. It’s been quite a journey watching these kids grow through our program over the years and we just really appreciate each of the kids’ time and effort that they’ve given us,” Carroll said. “They’re all good kids who are going to move on from this basketball season and can do great things in life.