A healing weekend for Marion boys' basketball

CEDAR RAPIDS — One weekend did a lot to help the Marion boys' basketball team.

The mid-winter blahs went away, as did a three-game losing streak, thanks to a pair of victories. The latter of those was of the 58-38 variety over Independence as part of Saturday's Wells Fargo Advisors Shootout at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'You're just grinding in January. That's all you're doing,' said Marion Coach Mike Manderscheid. 'Trying to get better, trying to get better defensively. Trying to take steps forward. I thought we did that last night. I'm not sure we played our best defensively today. Maybe in spots. But it's still a learning process that we're in.'

Marion (8-4, 7-4 Wamac East) won its first five games of the season but then lost four of five. That included that little losing streak, by a grand total of just 12 points.

The Indians knocked off Mount Vernon on the road Friday night to steady their ship and gradually eased away from Independence (2-10, 2-9 Wamac West) here. After scoring just six first-quarter points, Marion had 25 in the second.

Will Henricksen led the way with 19 points in the game. Connor Whalen came off the bench for 11, with Jaffer Murphy adding 10.

Whalen was especially effective in the second half, as Marion was able to rebound missed shots and start its fast break.

'Transition is a strength of ours, and we didn't do a good job with that ...,' Manderscheid said. 'The second half was much better. We were just taking too quick of shots from the perimeters. We settled, especially in the first quarter, did not go to the paint. We did a much better job with that in the second quarter.'

Logan Schmitt had 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to lead Indee. Sean Geertsema added nine points.

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

INDEPENDENCE (38): Logan Schmitt 4-11 0-0 9, Sean Geertsema 4-11 0-0 9, Blake Bartz 1-10 0-0 2, Ethan McCormick 2-6 0-0 5, Kaleb Lamphier 1-4 0-0 2, Jaxon Miller 0-3 1-2 1, Karter Wendling 2-3 0-0 6, Robert Stivers 0-2 0-0 0, Ryan Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Kaden Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Till 1-2 0-0 2, Jared Jensen 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Rummel 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Haas 0-0 0-0 0, Brayden Holt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 1-5 38.

MARION (58): Trevor Paulsen 4-8 1-2 9, Mason Rahe 1-4 0-0 2, Will Henricksen 6-11 5-5 19, Matthew Brase 0-3 0-0 0, Jaffer Murphy 4-10 0-0 10, Owen Puk 0-2 0-0 0, Gage Franck 2-5 3-4 7, Connor Whalen 5-5 1-3 11, Austin Prier 0-0 0-0 0, Colton Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Griest 0-0 0-0 0, Blaik Swailes 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Whitson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-51 10-14 58.

Halftime — Marion 31, Independence 17. 3-point goals — Independence 7-23 (Geertsema 1-7, Schmitt 3-4, Bartz 0-4, McCormick 1-5, Lamphier 0-1, Wendling 2-2), Marion 4-19 (Henricksen 2-5, Brase 0-3, Murphy 2-6, Puk 0-1, Franck 0-3, Whitson 0-1). Rebounds — Independence 34 (Bartz 6), Marion 31 (Franck 6). Total fouls — Independence 16, Marion 11. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — Independence 20, Marion 12.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com