Photo Courtesy of Sam Thiel/Marshall Independent New Ulm’s Matt Janke lays it up in 2AAA playoff action against Marshall on Wednesday night in Marshall. New Ulm ended its season going 12-14 as the Tigers advanced to take on Waseca on Saturday.

MARSHALL – The No. 7 New Ulm boys’ basketball team entered Wednesday night’s Section 2AAA quarterfinal game looking to make some noise and maybe come away with an upset against the No. 2-seeded Marshall Tigers. The Eagles had the makings of that upset in the early parts of the first half, but an 18-3 run by Marshall to close the half put the game out of reach as New Ulm fell 72-41.

It was a back-and-forth battle to start, as Marshall’s Trey Lance connected on a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 9-4 lead early. Both teams would then struggle to find the bottom the basket over the next few minutes, before the Tigers saw their first double-digit lead of the night at 16-6 midway through the opening half.

New Ulm wouldn’t go away, though, as the Eagles used a 5-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to just 5 but Marshall quickly answered with a pair of baskets to push the lead back to 9. Both teams would begin to trade points over the next several possessions, including a string of long distance shots, but Marshall continued to maintain at least a 7-point advantage.

The Tiger defense then earned a few steals on the other end, and took advantage of New Ulm’s mistakes on offense. Meanwhile, the Eagles hit a cold stretch from an offensive standpoint as Marshall quickly built a 29-17 lead with 4:17 left.

Marshall continued to add to its lead in the final stages of the first half, with the Tigers getting a pair of 3-pointers from Lance to take a 40-17 lead with 1:35 to go before a basket from Reece Melby of New Ulm ended the Eagles’ scoreless streak. The Tigers would get one last look before the halftime break and capitalized, as Jacob Hess connected on a 3-pointer to make it 43-19 heading into the locker rooms.

Just like it did to end the first half, Marshall came out in the second half clicking offensively and used a quick 9-2 run in the early stages of the final frame to take a 52-21 lead with 15 minutes to go.

The Eagles continued to fight and chip away at their deficit, including getting a pair of 3-pointers from Conner Foley to get it as close as 67-32 with 7:30 left, but the Tigers controlled the clock the rest of the way en route to the 72-41 victory.

New Ulm coach Steve Foley said they were able to do some things early but the multiple chance opportunities for the Tigers offense was the difference maker.

“I thought we did some nice things defensively, but we gave them way too many second and third shots,” Foley said. “Marshall has some really good players that can knock down shots when they’re open but when they miss shots, we’ve got to rebound and can’t give them second or third shots,

“The 1-3-1 press gave us some fits for a while, which I thought we did a really nice job of breaking it early and getting some looks, but then I felt we became passive and turned it over and helped Marshall really extend its lead.”

Connor Foley led the way for the Eagles with 17 points while Melby added 6 and Matt Janke had 5. Foley also led in rebounds with six while Andrew Peters and Foley led in steals with two apiece. Lance led the way for Marshall with 19 points while Bryce Paulsen added 13 and Hess had 10.

New Ulm shot 41.6 percent from the floor as a team, including 44.4 percent (4 of 9) from beyond the arc. Marshall finished the game with a 50.8 percentage mark from the floor (30 of 59), but outrebounded the Eagles 38-16, including a 17-2 advantage in offensive rebounds.

New Ulm finishes its season with a 12-13 record and graduates three seniors in Janke, Peters and Foley. Coach Foley said they’ve been great leaders the last few years and will be missed on the court next year.

“They’ve been great kids and great leaders all year and I can always count on them to give their all every game,” coach Foley said. “They’re great kids to be around and they’ll be sorely missed.”

Going into next season, coach Foley said they’re going to need to put in time and work to be able to put themselves in a level where they can compete amongst the top teams in the state.

“In order to be at the elite level that Marshall is at, we need to put in some time, especially in the weight room and the gym and hopefully get better,” coach Foley said. “Marshall is one of those elite teams in the state and they’ve been there the last several years and if we want to get to that level, we’ve got to put in the time.”

(Box)

New Ulm 19 22 – 41

Marshall 43 29 – 72

Scoring: New Ulm 15-36, 41.6 percent (Foley 7-11 0-1 17; Melby 2-10, 1-2 6; Janke 2-5, 1-2 5; Domeier 1-2, 0-0 2; Zimmerman 0-3, 2-2 2; Miller 0-0, 2-2 2; Hames 1-1, 0-0 2; Peters 1-2, 0-2 2; Bolduan 1-1, 0-0 2; Babel 0-0 1-2 1); Marshall 30-59, 50.8 percent (Lance 7-14, 1-2 19; Paulsen 6-7, 1-2 13; Hess 4-8, 1-2 10; Onken 4-6, 1-3 9; Klaith 3-6, 0-0 6; Steinbach 1-1, 2-4 4; Hmielewski 2-2, 0-0 4; Bennett 2-2, 0-0 4; Puetz 1-7, 1-1 3).

Rebounds: New Ulm 16 (Foley 6; Melby 5; Hames 2; Bolduan, Peters 1); Marshall 38 (Lance, Onken 6; Hess, Paulsen, Steinbach 4).

Assists: New Ulm 3 (Zimmerman, Miller, Hames 1); Marshall 10 (Lance, Klaith, Onken 2).

Steals: New Ulm 6 (Peters, Foley 2); Marshall 10 (Hmielewski 4).

Blocks: New Ulm 1 (Melby); Marshall 1 (Onken).

Fouls: New Ulm 10; Marshall 14.

Turnovers: New Ulm 17; Marshall 12.