The Marceline Tigers took the long road to Memphis last night for a District Basketball semifinal game against top-seeded Putnam County. Marceline’s boys played close with the Midgets throughout the game, but came up just short.
Putnam scored first a mere 14 seconds into the game, Jake Ewigman got Marceline on the board 35 seconds later with a free throw. The Tigers were trailing early on, but a steal and hoop from Ewigman at the 5:46 mark gave Marceline its first lead of the game. Marceline matched up well with Putnam, using equal size to counter equal size. This was evident at the 3:49 mark with a series of offensive boards for the Tigers ending in a bucket from Jeff Floray. But, Putnam would use a 6-0 run late in the frame to take a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Ewigman’s five points led scoring in the first quarter for the Tigers. “Putnam County is a solid team with quality post play and outside shooting from their guards and that is why they were the number one seed in the tournament,” said Tigers Head Coach Dan Nagel.
Ewigman ended the 6-0 run 10 seconds into the second quarter and re-tied the game. Putnam would answer 30 seconds later and go on a 6-0, game-changing run. Ewigman drained a shot at the 4:54 mark to end the run and start the Marceline offense back up. Starting at the 3:22 mark, the Tigers went into the bonus, and went on a run that would go for nearly 90 seconds. This run brought the Tigers back within a bucket as Jordan Tibbs made both ends of a one-and-one. But, both squads would exchange runs of 5-0 for the Midgets, and 4-0 for the Tigers within the final two minutes to make the score 31-24 in favor of Putnam County at the half. Ewigman had six points in the second quarter. “ I was pleased with our effort, ultimately they just executed at a higher level then we did and won the game,” said Coach Nagel.
- See today's LCL for the full story
