Big 2nd quarter allows Benton Community to tame Marion, 53-47

MARION — Last season, the Benton Community Bobcats lost their first four games before going on to become a very successful basketball team.

They only lost their first three games this season, so the natural expectation is for them to finish even better this by the time it's all said and done in 2016-17. The natural progression, right?

'Hey, you said that, I didn't,' Benton Coach Larry Carlson with a laugh, after his team beat Marion, 53-47, Tuesday night. 'And you know what, I'll go with it, too. If it works out that way, I'll go with it.'

A big second quarter created just enough separation for the Bobcats (3-3) to win their their third straight. It's a nice rebound for a team that lost early to really good clubs from Mount Vernon, Dyersville Beckman and Grinnell.

'It's a little bit different set up this year. We don't have as many big guys,' said Benton guard Tyler Eggert, who had a game-high 14 points. 'But at the same time, we have a lot of athletes in the guard court, and I think we can all work the ball and push it. There are a lot of places for us to grow, so we can definitely improve. We're a little inexperienced. Only a few of us played last season.'

A significant chunk of last season's scoring graduated, but Eggert and guard mates Spencer Touro and Luke Wiebel have picked up that slack. They were averaging a combined 45 points coming in here.

Marion led by eight early in the second quarter, but Benton ended up scoring 26 points to assume a 34-24 halftime lead. It was a 10-point game at halftime and 41-33 after three quarters.

'We needed that run,' Eggert said. 'Basketball is a game of runs. Definitely when we can get that energy going, it helps us. That ultimately gave us a little buffer in the end.'

Marion (3-3) made things very interesting late. It was 47-43 after Baylor Fish made a pair of free throws with 1:28 left, and the Indians' Chase Zielke stole the ensuing inbounds pass right underneath the Benton basket.

But he missed the layup, and Trevor Paulsen missed a point-blank putback attempt. That kind of night for Marion, which shot just 29 percent.

Offense has been a struggle early, as the Indians are averaging just 45 points a game.

'I really think we can shoot the ball. We just haven't,' said Marion Coach Mike Manderscheid. 'We only have three guys returning who have any experience. It's learning what you can do. Have your friends take a little bit of pressure off the post, have the post take a little bit of pressure off your friends. We did that a little bit better tonight. We made some steps, definitely played hard, definitely executed the game plan ... That second quarter, we just let them get a few too many runs.'

Javin Manderscheid, the coach's son, led Marion with 11 points, with 6-foot-6 center Mitch Wiese adding 10. Sophomore Paulsen had nine points and 14 rebounds.

'They didn't come back, but they kept on fighting. They did enough to put pressure on us and make our younger guys really grow up tonight,' Conrad said. 'This game is going to make us much better than if we had something like a 30-point blowout. Not that we were ever anticipating that, because Marion does a great job with defense. Mike does a great job of getting his guys ready, and they were definitely ready.'

AT MARION

BENTON COMMUNITY (53): Nolan Krueger 2-3 2-4 6, Luke Wiebel 1-3 1-2 3, Adison Steinford 2-4 0-3 4, Tyler Eggert 4-10 3-3 14, Spencer Touro 3-9 2-2 10, Koak Marshall 4-6 0-0 9, Patrick Michael 2-2 0-0 4, Parker Nolan 1-3 0-0 3, Brody Rawson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-40 8-14 53.

MARION (47): Trevor Paulsen 4-8 0-2 9, Mitch Wiese 4-4 2-2 10, Javin Manderscheid 4-9 0-0 11, Baylor Fish 0-5 3-5 3, Chase Zielke 0-14 6-6 6, Isaac Keehner 1-3 1-1 3, Alex Whalen 0-3 0-0 0, Isaak Hahn 0-1 0-0 0, Grant Meth 0-1 0-0 0, Matthew Brase 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 15-52 12-16 47.

Halftime — Benton Community 34, Marion 24. 3-point goals — Benton Community 7-16 (Wiebel 0-1, Krueger 0-1, Eggert 3-6, Touro 2-5, Steinford 0-1, Marshall 1-1, Nolan 1-1), Marion 5-19 (Paulsen 1-1, Manderscheid 3-4, Fish 0-1, Zielke 0-9, Whalen 0-2, Hahn 0-1, Brase 1-1). Rebounds — Benton Community 26 (Steinford 7), Marion 38 (Paulsen 14). Total fouls — Benton Community 16, Marion 15. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — Benton Community 13, Marion 15.

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