Clutch Play

MARIA STEIN - Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller took one for the team Friday night.

His team got him the win.

Marion battled past New Bremen for a 59-49 victory at the Hangar and stayed unbeaten in Midwest Athletic Conference play - thanks in large part to big efforts from Luke Pohlman and Jack Knapke, and a mini fourth-quarter explosion from Tate Hess.

Goettemoeller, whose leg was rolled up on by a New Bremen player on the sideline during the third quarter, limped out of the locker room after the game. But the coach was still grinning after the victory over a team that sat only one game back in MAC play. The last unbeatens in conference play are Marion and Coldwater.

"This was a nice win for us. I'm very pleased," Goettemoeller said. "I thought New Bremen played really hard. They just never quit and they battle you. They've got some scary shooters. … I thought we made a lot of mistakes, but our kids just played through them. I've got to give our kids a lot of credit."

Much of the credit went to a pair of role players in Luke Pohlman (15 points) and Mitch Ranly (eight points), who provided a plethora of big shots as Marion's second-leading scorer, Jadyn Mescher, sat with a broken nose. Pohlman, who entered the contest averaging 2.9 points, hit 3-of-6 long-range shots while Ranly went 2-of-3.

"Luke and Mitchell really stepped up and played well tonight on both sides of the ball," Goettemoeller said.

New Bremen could never get over the hump. Through three quarters, the game was a dead heat, but Hess came alive for Marion in the fourth.

Marion held a 6-0 lead out of the gate, but Bremen tied the score at 8-apiece. The Flyers led 17-10 after one quarter as six players got in the scoring column. The game was 22-13 after Ranly's second 3-pointer early in the second quarter and after Bremen cut the deficit to six later in the quarter, Knapke had a three-point play just before halftime to send the Flyers in front 27-18.

The Cardinals reduced their margin to three points early in the third, but Pohlman followed with back-to-back threes. Bremen was within one point later in the quarter before Pohlman knocked down another. Aaron Thieman fired back with his third three of the contest to make it a 38-37 ballgame entering the fourth.

"The want was there. The effort was there with our guys," New Bremen coach Cory Stephens said.

The fourth-quarter effort by Hess pushed Marion over the top, however.

Bremen missed a pair of quality looks to start the period that would have given it the lead. Hess - who scored seven of his 11 in the fourth - followed with a pair of free throws, scored off a steal, and then drove for another hoop. Marion's lead never dipped below five after that.

Hess finished off his big fourth with a nice dish to Knapke for a two-handed dunk.

"It was a game of runs," Goettemoeller said. "They made a big run in the fourth quarter. I challenged Tate at halftime. I didn't think he played very well in the first half. When the chips are down, Tate Hess is the guy you want to have the ball in his hands. He just said, 'That guy can't stay in front of me,' and he got to the rim two or three times when we needed baskets."

"We had some good looks early that didn't fall," Stephens said. "At one point we were down 38-37. We had a great set, a great look, and we missed a shot. We could have went up in that situation.

"We talked about some of the things we could do to maybe change that. Offensive rebounding was one thing we talked about. We gave up some offensive rebounds, which are going to happen, but if we can cut points off of offensive rebounds in half, that would be big. Then there's the live-ball turnovers that lead to run-outs and easy points, instead of making them earn stuff."

David Homan and Cooper Scheib paced New Bremen with 11 points apiece.

Knapke tallied 14 points and seven rebounds for Marion, who will take part in the Fort Loramie MLK Classic on Sunday at 6 p.m. against Springfield Shawnee.