Big second half boosts Red Raiders over Colby

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby boys basketball team hoped to deal Marathon their first loss of the season on Tuesday evening, but the Red Raiders were able to pull away in the second half to deal the Hornets a 81-46 loss.

While the lopsided final score suggests one story, Colby was very much in the game a quarter of the way through the second period. With 14 minutes left in the game, the Hornets only trailed by a single possession and had led during a good portion of the first half. However, they could not find a way to stop the Red Raiders down the stretch and Marathon was able to pull away over a stretch of impressive offensive efficiency.

A basket from Jaxon Polivka brought the Hornets back within three early in the second half. It was the closest Colby had been since they had lost their first half lead and it seemed like they had rediscovered some of the flow to their offense from earlier in the contest.

Marathon’s response quickly put any thought of an upset to bed. The Red Raiders outscored the Hornets 34-12 over the next nine minutes, putting up points on 14 of their 16 possessions over that time in a show of superb shooting.

The run began with the home team putting up points on eight straight possessions following Polivka’s basket, hitting both shots down on the blocks as well as beyond the arc. Marathon pulled out to a 55-37 advantage over this stretch and kept the mometum for the rest of the contest, outscoring Colby 26-9 over the final nine minutes.

This was in sharp contrast to the game’s opening segments, where the Hornets were able to limit the Red Raiders options with swarming zone defense and find good shots on the opposite end.

Colby took an early 7-0 lead and held on to that advantage over the first quarter of the game. A pair of early three-point shots from Adrian Lopez kept the visitors ahead. After eight minutes of play, the Hornets still led 16-11 following a basket from Miguel Morillon, but their offense would begin to falter.

The Red Raiders were able to go on a 13-0 run over the next seven minutes of game time. A corner three from Reed Fleischmann finally got the Hornets back on track, but the early momentum they had garnered had already ebbed towards the home team.

See HORNETS VS. RED RAIDERS/ Page 16

EXCUSE ME, COMING THROUGH - Joseph Streveler, left, inches past the outstretched hand of his Red Raider defender while Reed Fleischmann, right, cuts towards the basket during the Hornets Tuesday evening loss.

STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Hornets vs. Red Raiders

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Marathon utilized their height to pull down nearly twice as many rebounds as the Hornets, 41 to 23, not allowing Colby many second chance opportunities. Leading scorer Grant Warren had 17 rebounds alone for the Red Raiders.

Joseph Streveler put up 12 points on Tuesday night as Colby’s leading scorer, with eight of those coming in the second half. He also led the team with seven rebounds and five assists. Lopez ended the game with 11 points, Fleischmann had eight and Morillon, Polivka and Tucker Hayes all had four points each. Hayes also contributed six rebounds and three blocks and Polivka had three assists, six steals and two blocks.

The loss dropped Colby to 4-4 overall this season.

The Hornets will have another tough task ahead of them as they take on the Columbus Dons on Friday, Jan. 5. It will be a battle for the top of the conference, as the Dons are also 4-0 in the Cloverbelt-East. They are 9-1 overall this season, with their only loss coming at the hands of Brookfield Academy last Wednesday. They have three players that are averaging over 12 points per game thus far, with Charlie Moor, Cy Becker and Blake Jakobi all providing good offensive options for the Dons.

The game will be held at Columbus and tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

TOUGH DEFENSE - Miguel Morillon keeps Marathon’s Tyler Underwood contained during the first half of Colby’s matchup with the Red Raiders.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD