WORTHINGTON -- The Worthington Trojans boys basketball team got off to a solid start Tuesday against the Marshall Tigers.
Unfortunately, the Trojans weren't able to maintain their start.
Marshall used a 29-6 run -- which covered a span of about 10 minutes -- to turn a five-point deficit into a 16-point lead and, ultimately, a 72-63 victory.
Marshall (10-0, 17-3) clinched a share of the Southwest Conference title with the victory.
Worthington (5-5, 9-8) was able to get balanced production early in the game, attacking the interior defense of Marshall. However, the Trojans were unable to hold the momentum entering the late stages of the first half, giving the Tigers the spark they needed.
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"We had a four-minute meltdown at the end of the first half that dug ourselves in a hole," WHS head coach Ron Vorwald said. "Then, we didn't come out and have a couple good possessions in the second half."
Worthington did hold Marshall to 12-for-30 shooting in the first half, but was unable to hit the mark from the foul line, going 0-for-5, partially due to the team's shift to more of a perimeter attack, which did not pay dividends.
"We had them in the bonus with four minutes left to go in the first half and we never got to the line because we stopped going inside," Vorwald said. "We stopped taking the ball to the basket."
Marshall also picked up its intensity level in the late minutes of the first half, sparking the rally. Kyle Mathiowetz and Ben Blomme led the scoring punch in the first 18 minutes, combining for 15 points, helping an offense which never got out of its gameplan.
"We're pretty poised," Marshall head coach Tom Critchley Jr. said. "And the thing we have (is) a lot of kids that can play, and not just put on the floor."
Mathiowetz then found his stroke in the second half, hitting for 16 of his game-high 24 points to help Marshall pull away.
As for the Trojans, the sluggish start on offense continued in the second half as a pair of 3-pointers (by Drew Stevenson and Zach Traphagen) marked the team's only baskets in the first 4:30.
"What we talked about at halftime is getting stops and executing on offense," Vorwald said. "We did neither."
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To help the Trojans try to get back in the game, Vorwald employed a full-line substitution pattern, similar to that seen in hockey. Every few minutes, Vorwald sent five players in the game, attempting to keep the fresher kids on the floor to help pressure Marshall on defense.
The plan worked late in the half as Worthington cut the lead to 12 with 2:06 left, but they could not get the deficit into single figures until the clock became the enemy of the Trojans.
Worthington was led by 14 points from Traphagen, 13 from Chris Aggen. Aggen also had eight rebounds, tying Brian Soderholm for the team lead.
Worthington hosts New Ulm Friday,
Marshall 34 38 -- 72
WHS 26 37 -- 63
MHS (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Mathiowetz 1-7-7-24, Bredeson 0-0-2-2, Deragisch 2-0-1-7, Carrow 0-3-0-6, Meier 0-1-4-6, Baumann 2-3-2-14, Blomme 0-4-1-9, Haugen 0-2-0-4. Totals: 5-20-17-72.
WHS (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Traphagen 3-2-1-14, Stoll 0-2-0-4, Stevenson 1-2-2-9, Berg 0-2-2-6, Dudley 0-1-0-2, Aggen 2-3-1-13, Soderholm 0-2-3-7, Olson 0-3-0-6, Landberg 0-0-2-2. Totals: 6-17-11-63.
