Photo by Samantha Davis: Marshall's Davion Xayarath makes a stepback while running the offense in the first half against Belle Plaine Wednesday night at Southwest Minnesota State University. Marshall fell to Belle Plaine 82-69.

MARSHALL — Despite a valiant comeback attempt, the Marshall boys basketball team suffered an 82-69 Big South Conference loss to Class 2A top-ranked and undefeated Belle Plaine Wednesday night in the final day of the holiday tournament at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Marshall fell behind in the first half with troubles facing Belle Plaine’s press and zone defense, trailing 51-40 at the half, but eventually fought back to bring the game back within 4 points, 63-59, in the second half. Yet, Belle Plaine’s perimeter shooting and senior Ethan Martin’s 35 points were ultimately too much for Marshall to find a full response to down the stretch.

“We didn’t do a very good job of executing against their [Belle Plaine’s] press. That kind of hurried us up into the pace that they wanted to play during the game. Defensively, we weren’t very effective in recognizing personnel, what their personnel strengths were, and defending to try to take away what they do well,” Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said. “We didn’t communicate very well defensively, and it led them to getting looks that they were hoping to get on the offense. They’re a very good basketball team … A lot of the guys that were making their shots were guys that are high percentage 3-point shooters. That was exactly what they wanted to do with the players that were taking the shots, and we didn’t do a good enough job of making those contested shots.”

Both Marshall and Belle Plaine had 12 3-pointers on the night, but Belle Plaine shot more efficiently at 75%, along with eight in the first half, to Marshall’s 43% mark from deep.

Marshall was led by Voigt’s 26 points, who shot 4 of 6 from 3. Levi Maeyaert added in another 12 points behind a trio of 3s, while Davion Xayarath and Noah Pieper finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Oliver Voigt scored Marshall’s first 5 points with a spin-around jumpshot and a 3-pointer from the top of the key, as did Belle Plaine for a 5-5 start.

Andrew Lee cleaned up a putback off a Maeyaert steal and fastbreak layup, followed with a Maeyaert 3 on a Marshall 7-0 run to build a 12-5 lead.

But, Belle Plaine caught fire and eventually took to a 16-point lead, 41-25, to put Marshall in trouble early. Belle Plaine initially returned the favor of a 9-0 run to take a 20-19 lead with the help of running a 2-2-1 press and switching to a zone defense that challenged Marshall offensively.

Xayarath drew a charge to try to get some Marshall momentum going, resulting in a baseline driving layup by Voigt to cut into a 29-23 deficit.

Back-to-back 3s gave Belle Plaine back a 35-23 edge, which extended to 44-31 after another two from deep consecutively.

Carson Mensink was the second to draw a charge for Marshall followed by a Xayarath 3-pointer with 2:20 to go in the half, trailing 46-34 before Belle Plaine responded with another 3.

Lee ended the half for Marshall with a defensive rebound and the fastbreak layup.

Opening the second half, Xayarath hit two straight 3-pointers and grabbed the defensive rebound that turned into another Maeyaert 3 to cut into a 58-49 deficit. Xayarath also finished with a trio of 3s.

The two teams stayed tight over the next several minutes, with Belle Plaine switching back to man coverage, as Pieper hit a pair of free throws and Voigt was found down low to bring the game to two possessions, 63-57, with 10 minutes to play.

“It was a good response, it’s just hard to build leads against a good basketball team like Belle Plaine,” Carroll said. “To make a run on them, it’s good, but we had dug ourselves a pretty big hole where they were able to make another run at us … We just weren’t able to overcome it.”

Belle Plaine, however, put an end to Marshall’s run with a 3-pointer and pair of field goals to take back a 70-59 lead with just under seven minutes to go.

Marshall struggled to get a string of shots to fall as Belle Plaine extended onto a 13-4 run to a 76-61 lead with 3:13 left.

“Offensivley, we just got to share the basketball, and we’re going to have open looks for guys on the floor,” Carroll said. “When those opportunities come, the kids were able to make some shots, but it was just tough. We just had some tough moments during the game where we just need to be more consistent.”

Yet, Marshall continued to fight and again cut the score down to 9 points with 2:32 left, 76-67, after three Maeyaert free throws and a Voigt 3-pointer. Marshall applied full-court pressure and trapping at the perimeter after crossing half court that resulted in a few Belle Plaine turnovers.

Following a timeout, Belle Plain found its rhythm once again with a layup after breaking Marshall’s press and began to run down deep into the shot clock to shave off time with a few free throws to finish off the night.

Overall, Marshall shot 47% from the field to Belle Plaine’s 73% clip, and were outrebounded 24-14.

Entering Wednesday, Marshall was coming off three straight games that came down to the final seconds and ended as a one-posession difference. The Tigers fell to Delano 53-52, Waseca 69-66 but most recently staved off Jackson County Central in a 62-60 thriller on Saturday in the first day of the tournament after a Voigt midrange buzzer beater in a back-and-forth battle.

Marshall (5-3) will look to get back in the win column when it travels to take on Brandon Valley, S.D., at 7 p.m. on Friday.