Marion beats South Tama, 52-43, to tighten Wamac West some more

MARION — It's a big ol' jumbled mess in the Wamac Conference's West Division, and it got even more jumbled Thursday night.

A 52-43 win over South Tama puts Marion right in the middle of that mess. Leading from start to finish, the Indians tied their opponent for second place in the division.

Technically, it's third place, since Benton Community and Vinton-Shellsburg are tied for the top at 4-1. Marion and South Tama are 4-2, with Center Point-Urbana 3-2.

This was a makeup of a postponment from Tuesday night, if you are wondering about the uneven amount of games played for the teams.

'You know what, I think every coach in our division thinks that if you win it, you're still going to have two or three losses,' Marion Coach Mike Manderscheid said. 'And it's probably not going to be one team. I'd be surprised if it would be, but I guess it could be. Better to be in than out.'

Marion (7-4 overall) has won four of five, a modest two-game win streak achieved mostly through superior defense. The Indians limited Vinton-Shellsburg to 48 points in a win last Friday night and South Tama (6-4) even more here.

Riley Davenport had a game-high 17 points for the Trojans, but many of those came late, with Marion nursing a substantial lead.

'Get back on defense right away, stop the penetration in the middle of the lane, prevent them from getting to the boards,' said Marion's Chase Zielke. 'We've definitely been working on defense, trying to stop the other team to as minimum amount of points as possible. We've improved a lot, and it's really coming at a key time.'

It has been difficult for Marion to score points at times this season, but all the peripheral numbers here were solid. The Indians shot 50 percent, and that included from the 3-point line (6 of 12).

Marion was able to get to the free-throw line, too, which played a large part in the win. The Indians went 16 times (making 12) to just twice for South Tama.

The foul count finished 19-6, which is why South Tama Coach Burdette Brown picked up a technical foul early in the fourth quarter.

'We're starting to get a little bit more of a rotation down,' Manderscheid said. 'What we do, kids are starting to understand a little bit better. Defensively we're playing pretty well. Probably a little bit better than our midseason defense. Offensively if you hit a few shots, things work themselves out. It feels like our post play is starting to come. We've really emphasized that the last seven to 10 days.'

Guard Baylor Fish led Marion with 12 points. Zielke added 10.

'That was definitely a big win,' Fish said. 'We knew they had lost only to Vinton, and that with our losses early, we had to steal a couple. We got one from CPU, and now to knock these guys down to two losses, that helps a lot.'

AT MARION

SOUTH TAMA (43): Riley Davenport 6-11 2-2 17, Justus Ward 1-2 0-0 2, Clayton Rosenberg 2-9 0-0 5, Lane Koch 1-2 0-0 2, Gabe Shields 3-11 0-0 9, Keith Keahna 4-8 0-0 8, Nathan Lasley 0-2 0-0 0, Jessup Yazzie 0-0 0-0 0, Adonis Lasley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 2-2 43.

MARION (52): Trevor Paulsen 3-8 1-2 7, Mitch Wiese 3-3 1-2 7, Chase Zielke 4-9 0-0 10, Jevin Manderscheid 2-4 0-0 6, Baylor Fish 2-5 7-8 12, Grant Meth 1-2 0-0 2, Issac Keehner 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Whalen 2-4 3-4 8, Mathew Brase 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-35 12-16 52.

Halftime — Marion 22, South Tama 18. 3-point goals — South Tama 7-16 (Davenport 3-4, Shields 3-5, Rosenberg 1-7), Marion 6-12 (Zielke 2-4, Manderscheid 2-4, Fish 1-3, Whalen 1-2). Rebounds — South Tama 22 (Ward 5), Marion 27 (Paulsen 5). Total fouls — South Tama 19, Marion 6. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — South Tama 15, Marion 20.

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