Prep Boys Basketball Roundup: Marshall comes out on top over Willmar

Dec. 8—WILLMAR — Willmar boys basketball may have wanted to start the season with a win over Marshall for Jeff Holtkamp in his first game as head coach of the Cardinals.

But the Tigers were the ones to start their season on a high note with a 48-41 win over the Cardinals at the Big Red Gym.

Willmar trailed 25-19 at halftime. After struggling to find their scoring in the second half, the Cardinals were outscored 23-22 in the second half.

Junior Samuel Raitz led Willmar with 18, scoring both of the Cardinals' two 3-pointers.

Holtkamp was eager to see how his Cardinals' would look in their first regular season game.

"It was exciting to get that first game in," he said. "We had two good weeks of practice and we were all really itching to get out there to play and see where we were at competition-wise. It was a good start and a good test for us."

The Cardinals' defense did its best to limit the Tigers' lengthy big men from dominating the paint, which kept the score close throughout the first half.

Holtkamp had a lengthy conversation with his team at halftime, with the Cardinals not returning to the court until there was just under 26 seconds remaining until the start of the second half. The Tigers' starting five were patiently waiting at halfcourt.

"We just had a reminder about what our goals were for the night," Holtkamp said. "We made some adjustments and really talked about limiting turnovers. We wanted to have less than 10 turnovers but we had just over that in the first half."

Willmar struggled to find its scoring in the second half, going nearly eight minutes without a bucket.

Marshall capitalized on the Cardinals' scoring woes, eventually taking a 31-19 lead.

"We can't do that against good teams," Holtkamp said. "But our defense really kept us in the game."

The double-digit deficit did not last long as Willmar began to find its scoring.

Holtkamp remains optimistic about Willmar's season.

"The effort is there," he said. "Once we improve our offense and continue to have good defense I think we'll be a tough team."

Willmar opens Central Lakes Conference play at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Brainerd.

Non-Conference

Marshall 48,

Willmar 41

Marshall (1-0) 25 23 — 48

Willmar (0-1) 19 22 — 41

MARSHALL — Scoring: Charlie Jacobson 3, Noah Wilts 11, Omar Abdu 9, Bryant Paulson 5, Cayden Werner 11, Andrew Elton 6, Dawson Chappuis 3 ... 3-point shots: Jacobson 1, Wilts 2, Werner 1 ... Rebound leader: Elton 6 ... Assist leader: Paulson 2 ... Steal leader: None ... Block leader: None

WILLMAR — Scoring: Cayden Hansen 4, Jacob Streed 3, Abdihamid Abdul 4, Alex Schramm 6, Blake Schoolmeester 4, Harris Duininck 2, Samuel Raitz 18 ... 3-point shots: Raitz 2 ... Rebound leader: Cade Roelofs 5 ... Assist leader: Hansen 4 ... Steal leader: Hansen 5 ... Block leader: Hansen 1.

Morris/CA 76, NLS 37

Jackson Loge had 31 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in Morris/Chokio-Alberta's victory at New London-Spicer.

Thomas Tiernan added 13 points for the Tigers.

Aedan Andresen and Grant Paffrath led NLS with eight points each. Mason Delzer had seven rebounds and Aedan Andresen and Brycen Christensen each had four assists.

NLS plays at 7:15 p.m. Thursday against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in Grove City.

Morris/CA (3-0) 36 40 — 76

NLS (0-2) 17 20 — 37

MORRIS/CA — Scoring: Tyler Berlinger 7, Durgin Decker 9, Brandon Jergenson 6, Samuel Kleinwolterink 6, Jackson Loge 31, Ayden Schmidgall 3, Drew Storck 1, Thomas Tiernan 13 ... 3-point shots: Decker 1, Loge 1, Schmidgall 1, Tiernan 3 ... Rebound leaders: Loge 9, Jergenson 6 ... Assist leaders: Decker 4, Jergenson 5 ... Steal leaders: Berliner 3, Decker 1, Jergenson 4, Kleinwolterink 1, Cole Wente 1 ... Block leader: Loge 2

NLS — Scoring: Aedan Andresen 8, Brycen Christensen 6, Peyton Coahran 5, Mason Delzer 2, Paul Meier 4, Grant Paffrath 8, Konnor Rohloff 2, Gabe Rohman 2 ... 3-point shots: Andresen 1, Coahran 1 ... Rebound leader: Delzer 7 ... Assist leaders: Andresen 4, Christensen 4 ... Steal leaders: Andresen 1, Christensen 3, Coahran 2 ... Block leader: Christensen 1

Minnewaska 50,

Litchfield 48

Ethan Quelle had 16 points and Tate Richmann and Damon Uhde each had 11 as Minnewaska rallied to the victory at Litchfield.

The Lakers trailed 26-20 at halftime.

Uhde also had six assists and three steals.

Alex Draeger had 17 points and Dom Dietel 11 for the Dragons. Tanner Kohls had 11 rebounds and Logan King had five assists for Litchfield.

Litchfield plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Morris/Chokio-Alberta. Minnewaska plays Paynesville at 7:15 p.m. Thursday in Glenwood.

Minnewaska (1-1) 20 30 — 50

Litchfield (0-2) 26 22 — 48

MINNEWASKA — Scoring: Tate Reichmann 11, Ethan Quelle 16, Noah Danielson 1, Damon Uhde 11, Hunter Kostelecky 7 ... 3-point shots: Reichmann 3, Quelle 2 ... Rebound leader: Three 3 ... Assist leader: Uhde 6 ... Steal leader: Uhde 3 ... Block leader: None

LITCHFIELD — Scoring: Logan King 5, Jack McCann 3, Tanner Kohls 4, Tyler Pennertz 4, Alex Draeger 17, Beau Weseloh 4, Dom Dietel 11. ... 3-point shots: King 1, McCann 1, Draeger 5 ... Rebound leader: Kohls 11 ... Assist leader: King 5 ... Steal leader: McCann and Weseloh 1 ... Block leader: None

MACCRAY 83, ACGC 68

Isaac Post had 22 points and Gavin Husman added 21 to lead MACCRAY past Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City at Grove City.

Brooks Asche added 16 points and Jordan Warne had 10 for the Wolverines, who led 33-31 at halftime.

Alex Kokenge had 25 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and a block for ACGC. Brock Denton scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and Thor Goerish had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Falcons.

MACCRAY (2-0) 33 50 — 83

ACGC (2-1) 31 37 — 68

MACCRAY — Scoring: Isaac Strommer 4, Isaac Post 22, Matthew Wadsworth 7, Gavin Husman 21, Brooks Asche 16, Jordan Warne 10, Dreyer Homan 3 ... 3-point shots: Asche 2, Homan 1, Husman 1, Wadsworth 1, Post 1 ... Rebound leader: n/a ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a

ACGC — Scoring: Hunter Powers 3, Kyler Pickle 8, Brock Denton 18, Sam Rouser 2, Thor Goerish 12, Alex Kokenge 25 ... 3-point shots: Denton 6, Pickle 2 ... Rebound leaders: Kokenge 14, Goerish 10 ... Assist leaders: Kokenge 6, Pickle 3 ... Steal leaders: Denton 2 ... Block leader: Kokenge 1

Osakis 81, Paynesville 70

Bauer Klimek pumped in 29 points to help lead the Osakis Silverstreaks to the victory at Paynesville.

Brady Mages had 17 points and six rebounds and Kyle Mages added 10 points and seven rebounds. Stewart Jones had 12 points for Osakis.

Eli Nelson led the Bulldogs with 26 points, six rebounds and five steals. Chase Bayer had 18 points for Paynesville.

Osakis (1-1) 42 39 — 81

Paynesville (1-2) 35 35 — 70

OSAKIS — Scoring: Stewart Jones 12, Isaac Maddock 6, Kyle Mages 10, Bauer Klimek 29, Chayce Meyer 4, Mekai Hoelscher 3, Brady Mages 17 ... 3-point shots: Klimek 4 ... Rebound leader: K. Mages 7, B. Mages 6 ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: n/a ... Block leader: n/a

PAYNESVILLE — Scoring: Eli Nelson 26, Gus Johnson 4, Chase Bayer 18, Max Athmann 7, Bryce VanderBeek 6, Blayke Pung 9 ... 3-point shots: n/a ... Rebound leader: Nelson 6, Johnson 6 ... Assist leader: n/a ... Steal leader: Nelson 5 ... Block leader: n/a