Marion boys basketball team rallies past Tigerton in big CWC-North tilt

The Marion High School boys basketball team rallied a couple different time to pick up a critical 48-44 Central Wisconsin Conference-North Division win over Tigerton on Jan. 13 in Tigerton.

Marion rallied from a 12-point deficit in the opening half and then a seven-point deficit in the second half before hanging on late.

“We came in here expecting to have a slow start, on the road in conference, it’s going to be tough to get a good start, so we were just prepared” said Marion’s Parker Miller, who scored 17 points.

The win pushed Marion to 4-0 in conference play while moving Tigerton to 4-2. The Mustangs are the lone unbeaten team left in the CWC-North.

Tigerton came out hot from the field and built an 8-2 lead in the first four-plus minutes.

Colby Wanta hit two field goals, while Ryder Graham and Loghan Wanta added buckets for the hosts. Sam Gueths was the only Marion player to score in the opening stretch.

After a timeout, the Tigers bumped the lead up to 11 after a 3-pointer from Maverick Maas and another bucket from Graham.

Miller got Marion going offensively with a free throw and field goal, but Tigerton scored the next four points, including a 3-pointer from Loghan Wanta, to go up 17-5.

The teams traded points over the next couple minutes, leaving Tigerton with a 23-11 advantage with about six minutes to play in the half.

Marion stormed back into the game with a 12-0 finish to the half.

Miller got the run started with a basket before Gueths energized the team with back-to-back buckets. Izan Bueno and Ryan Malueg added field goals before Miller capped the half with two free throws.

Bueno, a foreign exchange student, said the team prevailed by “Just keeping our heads up and motivating each other, just keep playing.”

It was another slow start to the second half for Marion. Tigerton’s Colby Wanta and Graham scored baskets early in the half before Miller tied things back up with two buckets of his own.

Tigerton then went on a 7-0 run, with Asher Michaelis, Graham and Loghan Wanta scoring.

Just like in the first half though, Marion had an answer. The next 17 points all went to the Mustangs, with Malueg knocking down a couple triples and Bueno hitting two shots to get things going.

After a couple missed free throws for Tigerton, Miller hit two more shots to make it a 41-34 game. Bueno capped the massive run with a clutch 3-pointer with about 3½ minutes to play.

Tigerton stayed alive behind a Graham basket and Loghan Wanta free throws, but a key layup from Marion’s Jack Van Kooy after the team broke Tigerton’s press made it an eight-point game with about two minutes to play.

Graham and Loghan Wanta had the game’s next two baskets to make it a four-point game.

After leaving the game with an injury, Malueg returned with 1:26 to play and promptly scored the team’s final points under the basket about 15 seconds later.

“Last few minutes, we weren’t really looking to score unless we had a guy wide open,” said Miller. “We just wanted to move the ball around and get good looks. The inside looks are what happened.”

Marion missed some free throws to leave the door open for Tigerton, but two Colby Wanta free throws were all the hosts could muster in the final minute.

After the tough loss, Tigerton’s message after the game was to “stick together” and to look forward to the next few weeks of conference games, according to Colby Wanta.

“Conditioning played a part (in the team’s loss),” said Wanta. “Personally me, getting out on some of their shooters when they knocked down some big 3s. And then just hard defense at the end, we kind of lacked that.”

Marion 23 25 — 48

Tigerton 23 21 — 44

Marion (48): Jack Van Kooy 0-1 2, Izan Bueno 2-2 11, Sam Gueths 0-1 8, Ryan Malueg 0-0 10, Parker Miller 3-7 17.

Tigerton (44): Maverick Maas 1-2 6, Colby Wanta 3-5 9, Loghan Wanta 2-2 15, Ryder Graham 0-2 12, Asher Michaelis 0-2 2.

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