Payton’s Play: Payton Hodges steal and layup with just over a minute left allows Marion to get past Decorah in a Class 3A substate semifinal

MARION — The “other” Bockman gave them fits all night. They looked in control up 10 points at halftime and in the third quarter, then all of a sudden it was a one-point game.

It stayed that tight to the end of this intensely played Class 3A substate semifinal basketball game Thursday night.

“We needed everything,” Marion Coach Pete Messerli said, after his fifth-ranked Wolves escaped Decorah, 71-68.

That everything included a very, very, very timely steal and layup by Marion’s Payton Hodges that gave his club that 71-68 lead with 1:07 left. Instead of taking a lead on that offensive possession, Decorah turned the basketball over and fell down three.

There was a whole bunch of action that final minute-plus, but no points.

“I was sitting in help because I thought (Decorah’s) Ben Bockman was going to get the ball,” Hodges said. “I was sitting in the paint thinking ‘I’m going to help. I’m going to help.’ I saw a guy throw a little bounce back pass, and I thought I could go take that, which I did in the first half, too.

“When I got it, I said ‘This one’s over.’ I had a feeling.”

Hodges had a great overall game for Marion (18-5), which will play Charles City (17-5) in a substate final Monday night at 7 at Waterloo East. He finished with 19 points, one behind team-leader Brayson Laube’s 20.

Alex Mota contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds. Myles Davis hit a couple of 3s and scored eight points. Calen Claypool had eight points and seven boards.

Marion got something from just about everyone.

“We’re a good team, and we play together all the time,” Hodges said. “The boys did not want to go home tonight. We were saying that from the start. We came in at halftime up 10, but we said in our huddle before the second half that this one was not over, that we were going to have to earn it, because they were going to make a run.”

Decorah’s Ben Bockman was the leading scorer in Class 3A coming into this game but incurred some foul trouble that kept him out a lot Thursday. He finished with 11 points, half his season average.

But his cousin Matthew Bockman more than made up for that with a career-best 30 points. The junior guard got to the paint and scored, got outside the arc and drained 3-pointers.

Marion couldn’t stop him. He came in averaging 10 points a game but tripled that.

“Usually we have two to three (defenders) go off on Ben, so I just always take consideration of that,” Matthew said. “He’s such a good player, and I need to bank off of what he does.”

“When he got into foul trouble in the third quarter, they picked it up,” Messerli said. “Their other guys stepped up big time. (Matthew) Bockman got hot. A great 3-point shooter, got to the rack. They got to their spots on drives, and all of a sudden a 10-point game goes down to (one) really quick. I thought our guys kept their composure and poise. They kept playing how we needed to. They never got rattled.”

“We kept pounding away.”

Decorah finished its season 14-8, but has a number of underclassmen coming back next year for a program that definitely is on the rise.

“It’s a goal for these guys to get back to The Well,” Messerli said. “Charles City is a deserving 2 seed, beat Mount Vernon, which is an exceptional team. We’re really pleased to get past Decorah. Because we really earned it.”

AT MARION

DECORAH (68): Andrew Rhodes 1-2 0-1 2, Ben Bockman 5-12 0-0 11, Tate Johnson 2-4 6-10 10, Kaiden Quandahl 1-2 0-0 2, Kasey Krauskopf 3-4 0-0 9, Matthew Bockman 10-16 6-8 30, Ethan Holthaus 2-7 0-0 4, Gavin Giroux 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 12-19 68.

MARION (71): Alex Mota 6-14 0-1 13, Calen Claypool 4-9 0-4 8, Myles Davis 3-5 0-0 8, Payton Hodges 7-12 3-6 19, Brayson Laube 6-11 6-7 20, Jordan Fischer 1-2 2-2 4, Trey Franck 1-2 2-2 4, Elijah Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 13-22 71.

Halftime - Marion 39, Decorah 29. 3-point goals - Decorah 8-17 (B. Bockman 1-3, Johnson 0-1, Krauskopf 3-3, M. Bockman 4-7, Holthaus 0-3), Marion 6-18 (Mota 1-3, Davis 2-4, Hodges 1-4, Laube 2-5, Fischer 0-1). Rebounds - Decorah 29 (B. Bockman 7), Marion 28 (Mota 13). Total fouls - Decorah 24, Marion 17. Fouled out - Johnson, Quandahl. Turnovers - Decorah 12, Marion 9.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com