Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – For a program that had lost eight games combined over the previous two seasons a three-game losing skid stands out a little.

Yet Solon coach Jared Galpin wasn’t pushing the panic button when his team lost  closed back-to-back games to WAMAC East Division foes to close out December and lost at Mid-Prairie to open 2025.

Over the last week the Spartans have demonstrated why there was no panic during the uncharacteristically slow start.

Solon won its third consecutive game in the last eight days on Tuesday holding off Marion 54-51 in a WAMAC East Division contest in Solon.

“I knew that we were going to have some growing pains before break,” Galpin said. “We got to break we kind of hit the reset and focused on executing our offense.”

Solon erased a five-point halftime deficit with a 17-point third quarter on Tuesday while improving to 6-4 on the season and 1-2 in WAMAC East Division games.

“We saw improvement against Mid-Prairie right out of break, we saw improvement against Williamsburg and it just kept building,” Galpin said. “They are doing a fantastic job of doing what we ask them to do.”

Solon had five players with at least seven points on Tuesday led by sophomore Maddox Kelley with 14.

Isaiah Zoske had 10 points, Grant Gordon had nine and Nolan Seagren added eight as Solon shot 43 percent from the field and committed just eight turnovers.

“We are more patient on offense and our offensive execution has improved so much since break,” Galpin said. “That’s really been a focus for us and I’m really proud of how our guys have executed.”

Solon led 22-16 midway through the second quarter before Marion (5-7) closed the half on a 11-0 run.

The Spartans were held scoreless for the final 4:02 of the opening half as the Wolves built a 27-22 halftime lead.

“Our energy on defense dropped,” Galpin said. “It could have been fatigue, we had some guys that played big minutes the first half but we weren’t getting the ball pressure we had early.”

Solon needed less than four minutes into the second half to erase the Marion advantage.

The Spartans tied the score at 31 on a Zoske bucket and took the lead for good on a Karsyn Regennitter 3-pointer with 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Solon held Marion to just six points over a span of more than four minutes at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter while turning a 36-32 deficit into a 49-42 lead.

“Defensively our guys are growing up,” Galpin said. “We are getting more experience so they are understanding a little more, they are not thinking as much they are reacting and I thought we guarded really well tonight.”

Mason Wagner had 14 points and Austin Goodrich had 13 for Marion.

Marion                       10  17  9   15  –  51

Solon                          15   7  17  15  –  54        

Marion (51) – Austin Goodrich 6-11 0-0 13, Mason Wagner 5-8 0-0 14, Jaryn Griffith 1-7 0-0 3, Grayson Kirsch 1-6 3-4 5, Tait Rahe 3-7 0-0 8, Brooks Coates 4-8 0-0 8, Totals 20-47 3-4 51.

Solon (54) – Karsyn Regennitter 1-1 0-0 3, Isaiah Zoske 4-8 0-2 10, Caleb Bock 3-11 1-2 7, Nolan Seagren 2-3 3-4 8, Maddox Kelley 6-8 0-2 14, Grant Gordon 4-7 0-2 9, Kaden Hoeper 0-2 0-0 0, Beau Mullen 0-0 0-2 0, Jackson Link 1-4 0-0 3, Tanner Heims 0-5 0-0 0, Totals 21-49 4-14 54.

3-point field goals – Marion 8-22 (Goodrich 1-5, Wagner 4-6, Griffith 1-5, Rahe 2-6), Solon 8-19 (Regennitter 1-1, Zoske 2-3, Bock 0-2, Seagren 1-1, Kelley 2-4, Gordon 1-2, Hoeper 0-1, Link 1-4, Heims 0-1). Rebounds – Marion 35 (Coates 8, Kirsch 8), Solon 27 (Kelley 7, Bock 7). Total fouls – Marion 10, Solon 9. Turnovers – Marion 17, Solon 8. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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