Boys Basketball: Oconto Falls pulls away from Marinette

OCONTO FALLS — The Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team used a run in the latter portion of the second half to pull away from a pesky Marinette squad to earn its second North Eastern Conference victory of the season on Monday.

Leading 69-57 with a little over three minutes to play, Oconto Falls delivered the knockout blow with an 11-0 run to create an insurmountable lead.

The run started with a bucket from senior Jarod Parsons before seniors Zach Parsons and Joey Walters added buckets. The next three points came from senior Mitchell Manns at the free-throw line before Zach Parsons added another bucket to make it 80-57.

“It was a good feeling to beat this team because that last game against Wrightstown (on Friday) was pretty bad,” said Manns. “It was a good one to bounce back in and get a little momentum and some rhythm.”

Oconto Falls never trailed in the game, building several comfortable leads before Marinette would go on runs to tighten it up.

The Panthers scored the game’s first 12 points and soon led 19-3. Manns tallied 11 of the points, hitting three 3-pointers.

Marinette responded by scoring 13 of the next 15 points to make it a five-point game. A bucket from Manns and three-point play by Walters bumped the host’s lead back to 10 before the Marines went on a 7-0 run.

Oconto Falls outscored Marinette by two over the next four minutes to go into halftime up 33-28.

The start of the second half saw junior Daylen Hischke spark Oconto Falls, helping the team back to a double-digit lead again. But Marinette had another answer, cutting its deficit to just four, 51-47.

Walters and Manns combined to hit three 3-pointers over the next few minutes to push the lead over 10 points again. That momentum helped set up the 11-0 run that finished off an extended 29-10 run.

The Marines ended the game on a 7-0 run, but they eventually ran out of time.

“It just builds confidence for us,” said Walters of the victory. “It gives us things we definitely have to work on after tonight but also positives things though too. We just got to move forward and keep grinding.”

“It’s big. You can’t take any win for granted,” said Oconto Falls coach Gary Regal. “Especially, with the program were at right now, we have to build and get a win every time we can — enjoy the win, but understand what we need to do tomorrow to become better.”

Manns hit five of the team’s seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 28 points. Walters hit the other two triples, converted two 3-point plays and tallied 20 points.

Zach Parsons chipped in 13 points along with helping keep Marinette off the offensive glass.

While those three players dominated the scoring column for the Panthers, the team got solid minutes from several others.

Hischke, who Regal singled out for his strong play, finished with eight points. Jarod Parsons provided some strong defense along with chipping in six points. Sophomore guard Dylan Thomson provided a lift on the defensive side of the court, helping frustrate Marinette’s second leading scorer for a few possessions.

“I like our bench. There’s a lot of energy coming off the bench. It’s a young group but they got a lot of intensity and play hard defense and that’s all you need,” said Manns.

“Ideally, that’s what you want. You want the guys to do one-fifth of their job and you expect them to contribute when their out there,” said Regal.

Oconto Falls will go for a second straight win when it visits Waupaca on Thursday.

Marinette 28 36 — 64

Oconto Falls 33 47 — 80

Oconto Falls (80): Joey Walters 6-6 20, Mitchell Manns 5-8 28, Isaac Raddatz 1-2 3, Logan Joachim 0-0 2, Jarod Parsons 2-2 6, Daylen Hischke 2-2 8, Zach Parsons 1-5 13.

Marinette (64): Matt Maye 2-3 18, Jacob Sommerfeldt 2-4 9, Nate Poetzl 0-0 3, Richard Green 0-0 6, Asaia Polazzo 9-10 28.

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