Chase Allen (3) of Marysville grabs a rebound against Thomas Worthington. Pictured in the background for MHS is Dayne Johnson (1). The Monarchs won the game, 49-41.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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“We were able to turn the table on them.”
That was the assessment of Marysville High School boys basketball coach Mark Tinklenberg after a 49-41 victory over Thomas Worthington.
There are certain ways a coach can judge the improvement of his or her team.
The Monarchs have shown marked progress during the past couple of months.
The win over the Cardinals is proof of that, as MHS dropped a 62-51 verdict to them in December.
One of the reasons for MHS’ latest victory was the fact the team held its poise, both when it trailed on the scoreboard and later as Worthington battled away at its own deficit.
“The guys didn’t fold,” said Tinklenberg. “Our confidence is building with each game.”
There never was a super-heavy lead for either team during the tightly-contested battle.
A three-point goal by Leo Rausch gave MHS a 9-6 margin three minutes into the game.
A pair of trifectas from Joey Zalewski and Shaheem Nieves later staked the Cardinals to a 16-11 spread with less than a minute left in the opening set.
Jayson Moore, the Monarchs’ 6-7 post player, stepped out beyond the arc and swished a three-pointer.
That offering pulled Marysville to within 16-14 by the end of the quarter.
Moore pulled off another long distance dial-up to begin the ensuing period.
That sparked a run that included trifectas from Ryker Bowden and Rausch that elevated MHS’ advantage to 26-18.
Thomas Worthington kept up the fight, notching three-balls from Benson Oriental and Jalen Rogers.
All of the sudden, the Monarchs saw their lead whittled down to 28-24 with 1:19 remaining in the opening half.
Moore hit a free throw for a 29-24 margin.
Zalewski hit a jumper in the waning seconds, slicing the Cardinals’ halftime gap to 29-26.
Both teams kept up the fight during the third quarter.
The Monarchs never trailed, but their advantage never climbed above six points.
Moore scored on the offensive glass for a 31-26 margin early in the period.
There were several exchanges of empty possessions as the combatants had trouble getting into a steady offensive flow.
Nick Wever’s jumper pushed the home team out to a 33-27 lead at the midway point of the stanza.
Dayne Johnson’s bucket gave MHS a 35-31 edge about a minute later.
Moore dumped the ball on the low block for a Connor Smith bucket and a 37-31 lead.
Vanness Provitt’s stickback pulled Thomas Worthington to within 37-33 by the end of the quarter.
Rogers’ three-ball sliced MHS’ lead to 37-36 to open the final set.
A bucket by Chase Allen and a trey from Kade Focht gave the Monarchs a bit of breathing room at 42-36.
Marysville caught a full shift in momentum during the final minutes of the game.
Focht scored along the baseline for a 46-38 advantage with less than three minutes remaining in the contest.
At that point, the Monarchs had the luxury of milking the clock.
The Cardinals had to foul in order to try and prevent that from happening.
Free throws from Moore and Bowden stretched Marysville’s margin to 49-41 with 26 seconds to play.
The Cardinals missed two shot offerings and MHS dribbled away the remainder of the time.
“We played very well defensively,” said Tinklenberg, noting the 21-point Cardinal scoring difference in the two games between the teams. “We shut down their up-tempo game and limited them to 15 points in the second half.”
The Monarchs (who will host Harvest Prep this evening) have shown a considerable amount of growth throughout the second portion of the regular season.
They began the campaign with a 3-9 record, but have won five out of their last six contests.
“These guys have started believing in each other and I’ve seen over the last seven games they are starting to believe in me as their coach.
“It takes some time for that to happen when there’s a coaching change.”
Marysville
Moore 6-2-16, Bowden 3-3-10, Focht 2-2-7, Rausch 2-0-6, Allen 2-0-4, Johnson 1-0-2, Wever 1-0-2, Smith 1-0-2, Thornton 0-0-0. Totals 18-7-49.
Three-point goals: Moore 2, Rausch 2, Bowden 1, Focht 1.
Thomas Worthington
Sekyere 4-2-10, Zalewski 3-2-9, Rogers 2-0-6, Omameh 1-4-6, Nieves 2-0-5, Oriental 1-0-3, Provitt 1-0-2, Johnson 0-0-0. Totals 14-8-41.
Three-point goals: Rogers 2, Zalewski 1, Nieves 1, Oriental 1.
The Monarch jayvees won their game by a 50-42 count.
Andrew Rabe led the MHS junior varsity squad with 20 points.