Marion Local’s Brayden Mescher demonstrates his use of hand-to-man defense on Coldwater guard Caleb Schroer during Friday’s 43-28 Flyer win. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Marion Local showed again that you don’t have to even score 50 to win a tough high school basketball game. Defense travels, they say. And Kurt Goettemoeller’s Flyers showed why.
Coldwater, OH – Marion Local proved once again Friday night that they like it when teams play tough, physical basketball. They thrive on it.
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First year coach Will Hoskins had his Coldwater Cavaliers primed to match Marion emotionally. A huge crowd at Coldwater’s beautiful ‘Palace’ gymnasium added environment. And Cavalier senior guard Landon Knapke, along with sophomore 6’10” center Jack Bruns were proverbial thorns in Marion’s side for twenty minutes of the basketball game.
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But Marion keeps improving, at coach Kurt Goettemoeller’s insistence, along with proving that they can win tough basketball games without having twenty-point scorers bail them out. And Friday they used their defense, again, to beat Coldwater 43-28, relying on a stretch in the third and fourth quarters where they held Coldwater scoreless for six minutes.
All the while, Marion scored off Cavalier turnovers and the perimeter shooting of Grant Kremer – who scored seven points for the quarter as the Flyers outscored Coldwater in the final stretch, 13-6.
But Coldwater acquitted itself well for the first twenty minutes of the game, riding the energy and 7 of Knapke’s team-high 11 points; while Bruns was making a statement as a rim protector. At 6’10” he’s by far the most ominous low post shot blocker in the MAC, and while he only scored 2 points for the game, his three blocked shots and ones he altered made Marion Local blink on more than one occasion when they got near the rim.
Marion Local’s Kale Ahrens denies the shot attempt of Coldwater’s Landon Knapke during Friday’s 43-28 Flyer win.
But what goes around, comes around. Marion’s perimeter defense was superb, continually denying Knapke and fellow guard Caleb Schroer access to the paint, thereby negating the offensive impact of Bruns. He towered over the biggest players with which Marion could counter, 6’3″ Kale Ahrens and 6’5″ Brennen Hess, but you have to have the ball to score, and Marion’s defense saw to it that he didn’t.
“We’re mentally tough for the most part,” said Will Hoskins, post-game. “We got a lot of football guys, what can I say? They always want this rivalry with Marion, and we knew their defense was going to give us fits. But I told someone today that if we score 45 we’ll win. We did not. They scored 43. But I think our defense played really well for pretty much the whole game, and we had some turnovers that led to a lot of their scoring.
“They held us for six minutes without scoring at a point of the game when you can’t do that, but that’s what these guys do to you,” he added. “They’re so good at getting out and pressuring the ball. They get in the passing lanes. They switch screens so well. They’re just fundamentally so sound. And we’ve had some offensive deficiencies this year, an area where we’ve got to get better.”
Coldwater sophomore Jack Bruns (in white) made his presence felt, defensively, blocking three shots while altering others.
Marion jumped out to a 15-11 first quarter lead on the three-point shooting of Brennen Hess and Isaac Moeller, along with three buckets underneath by junior Kale Ahrens, who game-by-game is improving in all phases of the game as a go-to contributor.
But the respective defenses made their presence felt in the second quarter, as Bruns battered or changed Marion shots at the rim…and Ahrens and Hess, who have great instinct for shot-blocking without great size, had their own success against Cavaliers shooters who managed to get that close. Marion scored just 4 points for the quarter; and Coldwater scored 6!
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Marion led 19-17 at the half.
Hoskins, who’s a former assistant at New Bremen, and a close personal friend of Cardinals coach Cory Stephens, reached into the bag of tricks and switched up defenses against Marion, using some of Stephens’ patented zone throughout the second quarter and into the start of the third quarter. It made Marion pause with their ability to get the ball inside, but Coldwater couldn’t take advantage of the scoring lull.
Physical…Coldwater’s Nolan Gruss barges through Marion’s Luke Everman to score.
Marion’s defense created some empty possessions on missed shots and turnovers…both of which the Flyers capitalized on at their end. Ahrens again scored 6 points for the quarter, Brayden Mescher complemented him, and Marion outscored the Cavaliers 11 to 5 to lead 30-22 at the start of the fourth quarter.
“Our focus on defense was to pressure their perimeter to where they couldn’t see the size advantage that they had inside,” said Goettemoeller, later. “That was the focus, we were really physical, and the referees really let us play. It was really physical, but it was a good game. Coldwater is getting better and they’ve played really well at home this year. They don’t lose many here.
“And we need tough, physical games like this. This is great for us. We’ve got size at the rim and we’re used to getting shots at the rim, and tonight they weren’t lettin’ it happen. So we had to find other ways to win and it came down to what we hang our hat on. Our offense was a little bit stagnant, but our defense in the second half was just on point.”
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So on point, in fact, that from the final two minutes of the third quarter through the first four minutes of the fourth Marion held Coldwater without a point. And that was the turning point of the game as Marion feasted off turnovers and empty possessions by the Cavaliers to go on an eventual 13-6 run that closed out the game…43-28.
Marion’s Grant Kremer finished with 9 points on 4 of 8 shooting from the field.
Marion finished shooting 44%, with Kale Ahrens leading all scorers with 15 points. Brayden Mescher chipped in 10, Grant Kremer shot 4 of 8 from the field with a three-pointer to score 9, and Brennen Hess finished with 6.
Coldwater finished shooting 38%, with Landon Knapke scoring 11 points, but he had spotty help. Caleb Schroer had 5 points, Nolan Gruss had 4, and none of the other four players who scored had more than 2.
They don’t have MVPs for regular season games, but Kale Ahrens was distinguishing on Friday for the manner in which he made his presence felt on both ends – points for the Flyers (15), and points denied the Cavaliers.
“Brayden knows when to get someone the ball and he found me enough tonight when I had the matchup,” said Ahrens. “It just depends on the night as to who’s down there with the matchup. And I’ve been working on my footwork with the coaches…they spend time with all of us in the low post.
“The score reflected the defense tonight. It was low-possession, we didn’t have to score as much, and those points were important.”
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Ranked #1 this week in Division VI, they’re going to be tested in the manner of Friday night when the Flyers travel to Spencerville tomorrow night to take on the 13-6 Bearcats, coming off a Friday win against Allen East.
“We need to get better, and we can get better,” said Goettemoeller earlier in the week.
Coldwater’s Landon Knapke splits a pair of defenders for two of his 11 points.
And to his point, the parts are coming together – none more than Ahrens.
“Kale did a great job defensively on their best player tonight. The Knapke kid is really good, and in the second half Kale dialed in and really did a great job,” he added. “And he just finds ways to get points, whether in transition, on offensive rebounds, or cutting to the rim where Brayden gets him the ball.”
They may score more on Saturday, or they may not. And it might not matter.
At this point Goettemoeller pretty much knows…
That that defense is going to travel just about every night!
Great sports, great food, and a great place to meet with friends. Come to McSobers after the game.