Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – A grinder, a slugfest, a defensive battle.

Whatever description you give Tuesday’s WAMAC East division matchup between Solon and Marion head coaches Pete Messerli and Jared Galpin knew it was coming.

“It’s the WAMAC conference,” Marion head coach Pete Messerli said. “Every game is going to be a grinder.”
Tuesday was no exception and it was the Wolves that survived.

Marion held Solon under 40 points for the second time in as many games this season and completed the season sweep of the Spartans with a 43-36 win in a classic WAMAC war in Solon.

“We knew it would be this type of game, when you have two good defensive teams every offensive possession matters and they hit shots and we didn’t consistently hit enough and then didn’t shoot well at the free throw line,” Solon coach Jared Galpin said. “We could never get a lead, we were close a few times but we just didn’t get enough shots to fall.”

Marion held Solon to a season-low 35 points in a 19-point win over the Spartans in the first meeting back on December 14.

The Wolves came up with a similar smothering defensive effort on Tuesday holding Solon to its second lowest scoring output of the year and just 33 percent shooting.

Brayson Laube had 18 points to lead all scores as Marion improved to 10-3 on the season and 7-2 in WAMAC play with its third consecutive win.

“Our defense is getting better,” Messerli said. “It gives you more chances in these games when offense is at a premium and we had some guys step in and play their roles exceptionally well and you have to do that to win these games.”

Solon (8-6, 6-5) had won six of seven games since its loss to Marion on December 14 but couldn’t getting into an offensive rhythm against the Wolves.

The Spartans were 3-of-15 from three-point range and just 7-of-14 from the free throw line while committing 12 turnovers.

Still, Solon was in the game all the way.

Solon held Marion to 34 percent shooting and trailed just 32-29 with under six minutes to play.

“Defensively we are going to have breakdowns we just have to minimize them and we had a few but the biggest thing is held a team that averages 63 points to 43,” Galpin said. “Marion did a great job on defense and we just didn’t hit enough shots.”

Solon never led after taking a 2-0 lead but was within striking distance all game.

Marion led 19-17 at the half and cut the lead to 24-23 as Marion opened the third quarter 1-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc.

The Wolves closed the quarter on an 8-2 run that started with back-to-back three-pointers by Payton Hodges and Laube.

“Solon is well-coached, they have good athletes, they play their system really well and you aren’t going to get anything easy. We had to stay within our team structure and it really came down to what we practice and the third quarter was instrumental,” Messerli said. “That’s when we got a lead. We were moving the ball and got some shots to go down.”

Solon got as close as 32-29 with a 5-0 run to open the fourth quarter but Marion against answered with an 8-2 run that featured a conventional three-point play by Laube and a three-pointer by Jordan Fischer.

“They hit some threes,” Galpin said. “Brayson is good at hunting that corner shot and they did a good job of moving the ball and we have to rotate quick enough to cover the corners.”

Jake Benzing led Solon with 16 points while Jacob Timmons had 11 points and six rebounds.

Kinnick Pusteoska had eight rebounds but the Spartans’ top scorer was held to three points.

Solon                           6  11   7   12  –  36

Marion                       9  10  13  11  –  43

Solon (36) – Brady Mullen 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Timmons 4-7 2-4 11, Kinnick Pusteoska 1-6 1-3 3, Jake Benzing 6-11 2-2 16, Oaken Foster 1-6 0-1 2, Sean Stahle 1-3 1-2 3, Gehrig Turner 0-4 1-2 1, Cayden Knipper 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 13-40 7-14 36.

Marion (43) – Nathan Whalen 0-1 0-0 0, Brayson Laube 6-13 2-3 18, Alex Mota 2-6 1-1 6, Calen Claypool 1-1 0-0 2, Jordan Fischer 2-5 2-2 7, Payton Hodges 1-4 0-1 3, Kaden Frommelt 1-6 0-0 3, Myles Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Boede Rahe 2-6 0-1 4, Totals 15-44 5-8 43.

3-point field goals – SOL 3-15 (Mullen 0-1, Timmons 1-2, Pusteoska 0-1, Benzing 2-7), MAR 8-25 (Whalen 0-1, Laube 4-11, Mota 1-3, Fischer 1-4, Hodges 1-2, Frommelt 1-2, Davis 0-2). Rebounds – SOL 31 (Pusteoska 8), MAR 32 (Mota 10). Turnovers – SOL 12, MAR 8. Total fouls – SOL 14, MAR 17. Fouled out – SOL (Foster). Technical fouls – None.

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