Class AAA Title Contender Series: Marshall

<p>The Marshall Tigers went 28-2 a season ago and return one of the best backcourts in Class AAA basketball this year.  Get to know the Marshall Tigers today!</p> <p><strong>Key Wins in 19-20 (28-2):  </strong>Waseca, Mankato East, Mankato West, Redwood Valley, Hermantown, JCC, Hutchinson</p> <p><strong>Oops</strong>: Waseca, Mankato East</p> <p><strong>Moving On: </strong>Marshall lost four starters and they didn’t just lost four starters to graduation, they lost four starters to college athletics at a scholarship level (which Marshall always seems to do).  Center [player_tooltip player_id="721932" first="Yahya" last="Black"] is playing football at Iowa, forward [player_tooltip player_id="549351" first="Noah" last="Puetz"] is playing basketball at Sioux Falls, forward Trey Steinbach is playing football at North Dakota State, and [player_tooltip player_id="846227" first="Matthew" last="Hmielewski"] is playing baseball at Briar Cliff.  In addition, reserve forward Konnor Aufenthie is now playing football at UW-River Falls and guard Dean Pochardt left as well.  That’s six of Marshall’s top nine guys from a year ago (but everybody knows Marshall just reloads!)</p> <p><strong>Returning Starter:  </strong>The returning starter for Marshall was arguably their best player last season, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774733" first="Bryce" last="Lance"]</strong>.  Bryce plays the point position but doubled as a twelve point per game scorer.  Lance is quick with the dribble which is helps get him to the basket, and into his beautiful pull-up jumper.  Marshall can use Lance at either guard spot plus he can be a defensive game changer.  With such heavy losses we expect Lance’s 12/3/3 average to boost to about 19/6/5 a game. </p> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role:  </strong>Six-foot-1 senior wing<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="774893" first="Josh" last="Baker"] </strong>and 5-foot-10 guard<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="957219" first="Chase" last="Douglas"] </strong>are the other returning players with experience.  Baker has the numbers of a starter having averaged 11 points a game last season. Baker is an excellent three-point shooter and one of the team’s most active, trusted defenders.  Douglas - a quality ball handler - gives Marshall the option to play Lance on one wing, and Baker the other if they want.  Douglas is another active defender that makes opponents uncomfortable.</p> <p><strong>Potentials from the JV: </strong>Two guys that played JV and then played some deep bench varsity were 6-foot-3 combo forward senior <strong>Jack Bly</strong> and 6-foot-4 low post senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774935" first="Brevin" last="Runia"]</strong>.  With no experience up front, Bly and Runia could step right into the roles as the four and five.  Bly is more of the face up attacking style forward while Runia is the back to the bucket type player. </p> <p>There is more size from the JV that can either fight for a starting role or back-up Bly and Runia.  Six-foot-3 senior <strong>Abubakar Abdi</strong> has a knack for scoring and Marshall will have legit center size in 6-foot-6 junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="962271" first="Cayden" last="Werner"]</strong> if he’s ready to give some varsity minutes.  Juniors <strong>Noah Wilts</strong> (5-foot-10) and <strong>Bryant Paulsen</strong> (6-foot-1) should also figure into the line-up. </p> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>: People really need to keep an eye on Marshall.  There was a lot of respect for Mankato East last year but Marshall beat the Cougars for the section title.  Everybody talks about Waseca and rightfully so, but Marshall split with the Jays winning their game by 11 and losing the other by a basket.   Marshall has a lot of bodies to replace and this year they may not be plugging spots with future college football players but don’t be surprised if this is a top five team once again. </p>