Wahlert ends Marion's oustanding season, 59-50

To heck with the Mississippi Valley Conference.

Forgive the Marion Indians if they choose a word that's stronger then “heck” in this case. They lost four basketball games this season, and three of them were to MVC teams.

That includes Dubuque Wahlert, which pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 59-50 win in a Class 3A district final last night at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

“I knew it was going to be a battle coming in,” said Wahlert sophomore guard Jake May, brother of Iowa freshman Eric May, who led his team with 15 points. “It's the postseason, and everyone is going to play hard. But I felt like we were the better team just because we were bigger. The MVC is obviously a tough conference. We've been playing tough teams all year, and that was an advantage.”

It's one more tough game to go for Wahlert (14-9), a substate final next week against No. 5 Davenport Assumption, another 3A school playing in a 4A conference. For eighth-ranked Marion (19-4), it's memories of a terrific season that included a Wamac Conference championship and 14-game win streak.

“I'm proud of the kids,” said Marion Coach Mike Manderscheid. “They never quit. We just couldn't make enough shots.”

Wahlert led after three quarters, 41-39, but immediately scored five points in the fourth on a Brad Kane 3-pointer and May steal and layup. Marion could never recover, falling behind 54-42 with two minutes to go.

While Wahlert hit exactly half of its field goals, Marion struggled to 1-of-24 distance shooting, 0 for 17 in the second half. The Golden Eagles' 3-2 second-half zone was a huge difference maker.

“We were really getting killed by their penetration in the first half,” said Wahlert Coach Tom English. “We knew that was their strength ... They just struggled to find a rhythm against our zone and we got some turnovers to turn into points.”

Aaron Schueller added 13 points for Wahlert and Kane 12. Kasey Semler had 14 points for Marion, but was just 4-of-20 from the field and scored just two points in the second half.

Marion's Corey Kramer played most of the way despite losing a tooth in the first half after getting hit in the mouth by an inadvertant elbow by a Wahlert player.

AT C.R. KENNEDY

DUBUQUE WAHLERT (59): Nolan Gall 3-4 2-2 8, Jake May 6-15 3-4 15, Ryan Ernst 1-2 1-4 3, Brad Kane 4-7 2-3 12, Aaron Schueller 6-12 1-3 13, Riley McCarron 2-3 3-6 8, Dan Sisler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-44 12-22 59.

MARION (50): Dusty Albaugh 1-4 0-0 2, Dalton Combs 1-8 2-2 4, Hunter Sade 4-10 2-2 10, Kasey Semler 4-20 5-6 14, Corey Kramer 3-9 0-2 6, Ryan Hubbell 3-4 1-2 7, Tyler Fisher 2-4 3-4 7, Mitch Osborn 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Cranny 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-59 13-18 50.

Halftime - Marion 31, Wahlert 29.

3-point goals - Wahlert 3-12 (Kane 2-5, Schueller 0-5, McCarron 1-2), Marion 1-24 (Albaugh 0-2, Combs 0-6, Semler 1-12, Kramer 0-4).

Rebounds - Wahlert 33 (Kane 7), Marion 42 (Albaugh 9).

Total fouls - Wahlert 21, Marion 20.

Fouled out - None.

Turnovers - Wahlert 11, Marion 11.