13th article at the Independent

PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Marshall falls short against Pipestone Area, 53-48 Chris Drummond cdrummond@marshallindependent.com

MARSHALL — Just one month earlier, the Marshall Tigers boys basketball team defeated the Pipestone Area Arrows 58-48. In the second meeting between the two teams on Thursday, the Arrows would exact revenge in Marshall, beating the Tigers 53-48 despite a furious second-half rally by Marshall.

The Arrows jumped on the Tigers early, opening the game on a 12-2 run and would never succumb the lead in the game. The Tigers struggled mightily in the opening half mustering only 13 points and trailing by the same margin at halftime. Marshall coach Travis Carroll discussed the first-half struggles of his team. “First half was a struggle going down 13 at the halftime, that was a challenge for us,” Carroll said. “We didn’t do a bad job defensively, holding them to 26 but scoring 13 points was challenging for us. Despite our loss, our kids showed a lot of resiliency.” For most of the second half the Tigers would trim the lead but every time a run may have been started, the Arrows made a shot to keep the lead. Noah Wilts led the Tigers in scoring 14 points but took 17 shots to do so. Pipestone Area’s lack of free throw shot-making kept the game close down the stretch. With less than a minute remaining in the game, the Tigers had two opportunities to tie the game after cutting the lead to three. However, 3-pointers missed by Marshall would end the chances of a tie after Arrows guard Merrick Heidebrink made two free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining to secure the win. The Tigers shot just 31 percent in the game overall. Coach Carroll talked about his team’s effort in the second half. “Much better offensively in the second half because of the position we were in we had to force the tempo,” Carroll said. “Credit to Pipestone, they have a great basketball team this year but we showed resiliency, just wasn’t enough to overcome tonight.” Arrows forward Kellen Johnson had a team-high 10 points. Marshall (14-8 overall, 10-2 Big South conference) will host the Mankato East Cougars on Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. Pipestone Area 53, Marshall 48

Pipestone Area 26 27 – 53 Marshall 13 35 – 48

Scoring: Marshall (Wilts 5-17, 2-2 14; Maeyaert 3-7, 0-0 9; Elton 3-5, 0-0 7; Jacobson 2-7, 3-4 7; Osman 2-5, 0-0 5; Paulsen 1-1, 0-0 3; Abdi 1-8, 1-2 3).

Rebounds: Marshall 27 (Jacobson 10; Werner 4; Abdi 3; Elton, Maeyaert, Wilts, Paulsen 2; Vierstraete, Osman 1).

Assists: Marshall 11 (Wilts 4; Osman, Werner 2; Abdi, Elton, Jacobson 1).

Steals: Marshall 7 (Osman 4; Wilts, Paulsen, Abdi 1).