Marion pours it on St. Henry

MARIA STEIN - Marion Local's Tyler Prenger rained down a three-pointer as time expired in the first half.

Then the Flyers poured it on St. Henry in the second half.

The Flyers outscored the Redskins 23-9 in the third quarter en route to a 77-40 rout that probably nobody expected to witness on Friday at the Hangar.

In three of the previous five meetings between the rivals along State Route 119, the margin of victory has been by 10 points or fewer.

"I don't know that the final score is indicative of the game it was for the first half," Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. "Tyler Prenger hit a big three to put us up 10 at half and we came out like a house of fire in the third quarter."

The Flyers improved to 2-0 while handing the Redskins (4-1) their first loss of the season and third straight loss in the series.

What was a 30-20 Marion lead at halftime ballooned into a 53-29 score by the end of the third quarter. Justin Albers knocked down three triples in the stanza for Marion and Tyler Mescher added six of his game-high 23 points.

"Justin Albers hit some big threes in there and that helped stretch the lead from 10 to 20," Goettemoeller said. "After that, they had to pressure to get back into the game and we weren't perfect, but we were able to throw over top of it and get some easy ones."

St. Henry led for much of the first quarter, but Mescher and Nate Bruns eventually wore down the Redskins for several buckets in the paint. Mescher scored 10 in the frame, six points from the two-feet away and four at the free throw line, and Bruns added seven to put the Flyers in front 17-12.

Marion maintained a cushion of four points or more the entire second quarter and took its first double-digit lead with Prenger's three from the right elbow extended.

The Flyers doubled up the Redskins with a 10-0 run in the first 2 minutes and 20 seconds of the third quarter.

"Offensively, they're very effective," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said. "With their bigs and the way they are able to pass the basketball, it led to some very easy opportunities to get some of their guys' confidence going. But ultimately it comes down to us getting slowed down, getting way more fundamental, setting up cuts, setting screens.

"But Marion is athletic. They are big and they are strong. They kind of come at you the way that New Bremen does. Their back side is usually around enough to affect us at the front of the rim. We missed quite a few bunnies."

Marion Local made 26-of-37 shots (70 percent) and 6-of-10 from the three-point line (60 percent).

"Everybody has to focus on our interior scoring, so if we can continue to make shots, then we're going to be extremely tough to beat," Goettemoeller said.

St. Henry finished 14-of-55 from the floor (25 percent) and 5-of-29 from three-point land (27 percent).

"All the credit goes to Marion Local and coach Goettemoeller," Rosenbeck said. "That's one of the best defensive team I've seen on film. They were exceptional tonight. We've got a lot to learn."

Bruns totaled 14 points for the Flyers. Albers added 13 and Prenger eight.

Tyler Schlarman was high man for the Redskins with 11 points. Ryan Luttmer chipped in nine.

Both teams are back in action tonight. Marion Local hosts Shawnee and St. Henry hosts Fort Loramie.