Flyers fight past Wildcats in fourth

MARIA STEIN - One play proved exactly how badly Marion Local wanted to win its season opener.

Trailing Minster 41-40 with 5:10 left in the fourth quarter, Kyle Homan dove on the floor for a loose ball and flipped a pass ahead to Cole Griesdorn for a layup to put Marion Local in front.

That one hustle play launched an 18-6 Flyer run to end the game and helped secure a 58-47 victory over the Wildcats in Midwest Athletic Conference play Friday night at the Hangar.

"Those little hustle plays were starting to go our way in the fourth quarter," Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. "Kyle was all over the floor tonight. We had other guys ... Tyler Mescher was just relentless on the boards. He doesn't stand being boxed out. There's guys boxing out and he's not ready to give in. He slides around. There was 2-3 times when he got rebound baskets."

Mescher ended the night with game-highs in points (15) and rebounds (nine). Homan added nine points.

Marion Local had trailed the majority of the contest before the fourth-quarter eruption. Minster's largest advantage was 10 points, 28-18, with 1:40 left in the first half following Alex Eiting's second triple of the game. Marion Local went into the locker room with a little positive momentum, as Griesdorn drained a three-pointer at the buzzer off a feed from Derek Albers to halve the deficit to 28-23.

The Flyers opened the second half on a 7-0 run to go back in front 30-28. But Jared Thobe scored six points in the quarter for Minster as it charged back on top 36-31. Once again, though, Marion responded. Nathan Bruns hit a turnaround jumper, Mescher muscled his way up for two and the Flyers trailed 36-35 entering the fourth.

Griesdorn scored seven points in the fourth quarter and matched Mescher's game-high with 15. Albers had some big moments in the final period, too. He knocked down a key three-pointer and a pair at the foul line to stretch the Flyers' lead to 10. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

"We had to find a way," Goettemoeller said. "It was a 10-point lead there in the second quarter and we just had to keep fighting, scratching and clawing to stay in the game. Cole hit a big three at the buzzer to put us down only five at the half. We told the kids we were right where we needed to be. Because of our physicality, I think we wore them down and they were not making shots in the fourth quarter."

The Wildcats were outscored 35-19 in the second half and outrebounded 33-25 for the game. Thobe led the way with 10 points and six rebounds while Jacob Stechschulte added nine points for the Wildcats, who fell to 1-2 and 1-1 in the MAC.

"We've had two games in a row where the fourth quarter has not been too kind to us," said Minster coach Mike Lee, whose team returns to their home floor tonight to face Houston. "Tonight wasn't a matter of taking bad shots. We had some breakdowns defensively. While that was going on, we decided to turn the ball over and it just kind of snow-balled."

After losing so many key parts from last season, fans didn't know what to expect from the Flyers in their season opener. What they saw was a Flyer team that played hard and physical. They also received contributions from several players, including Bruns, a freshman who totaled seven points and seven rebounds. And they got the result they wanted.

"For only having six practices, I was impressed with the way we competed with so much energy," Goettemoeller said. "We're trying to build a culture here. We want to just play relentless and tonight (showed) we're starting to establish that a little bit. I think this was a culture win. I'm thrilled and we just have to keep getting better.

"I also want to publicly thank our alumni that came in and gave us a scrimmage on Tuesday. We wouldn't have won this game without those guys."

The Flyers will try to finish off a perfect weekend at home tonight against 1-4 Celina.