Marshall over Poynette

Took in my first game of the year last night in Poynette. Being that is early in the year there aren't a lot of big games going on until the holidays start so, I thought I would take in a game that was fairly close to me. Coming into the game I didn't know a whole lot about the two teams other then Poynette had some juniors that seemed to put up good scoring numbers and Marshall has 6'2 senior Cam Ward who is one of the best shooters in the state and will be going to Vermont next year on scholarship. Yes I have both teams in my D3 preseason rankings but, didn't see Marshall play last year and haven't seen Poynette play in about eight years.

Both teams came out in zone defenses. One I loved and one I didn't. Marshall is an undersized team and game out in a 2-3 zone which I've never been a fan of but, if I recall at state two years ago they played zone and they are a little undersize so zone probably does make sense. Poynette came out in a triangle and two which I love. I always love the strange different defenses that you don't see on a regular bases, such as a triangle and two or box and one. One thing I didn't like was Poynette had their top scorer in 6'3 junior Tanner Bruchs matched up man to man with Ward. Bruchs picked up a foul the first time down the court and they didn't switch him off Ward, which led to Bruchs picking up his second foul two minutes into the game and spending the rest of the first quarter on the bench and really hurting Poynette on the offensive end. Early on Ward was able to get things going particularly once Bruchs was out of the game as it was fairly evident that Poynette didn't have anyone quick enough to stick with Ward. On the other side Poynette was able to get the ball to the middle of the zone but, too many times they settled for the outside shot and the outside shot was not falling. Poynette was able to keep the game close because they dominated the offensive glass and got second and third shots numerous times. Bruchs did get back into the game and hit four three point shots in the second to help Poynette out and fellow junior 6'3 Riley Lytle did show some moderate success getting the ball to the middle of the Marshall zone and taking the ball to the hoop.

Cam Ward didn't have a great night but, had a good night (had 25 points). Ward was forcing things at times and didn't shoot great and got a large amount of his points from the free throw line. 6'1 senior Ryan Link stepped up big though to help Ward out as he hit jumper after jumper and added in three, three point shots. Poynette continued their poor shooting and poor shot selection and eventually those long rebounds turned into fast break points for Marshall as they scored 30 points in the fourth to pull away.

Box Score (starters in italics)
Poynette 56- Bruchs 17 Lytle 16 Tyler Klink 8 Ben Lattimer 6 Jacob Krumberger 3 Ethan Lurquin 2 Tower Manning 2 Bradley Smith 2 Brennan Pederson 0 Kevin Bennett 0 Scott Lenius 0 Meko Washington 0 Wesley Gorman 0 Jacob Reddeman 0
Marshall 77- Ward 25 R Link 20 Austin Sinden 15 Sam Schwenn 4 Bryce Riege 4 Adam Link 3 Dylan Gumz 2 Austin Hayes 2 Adam Wehking 2 Brandon Grob 0 Alec Gillett 0 Stevie Klock 0 Gavin Peck 0 Curtis Olson 0 Justin Eggers 0 Tyler Kurt 0

Top Players
Tanner Bruchs 6'3 junior Poynette- When he was in did a nice job of knocking down the spot up three pointers.

Riley Lytle 6'3 junior Poynette- Did a little bit of everything for the team. Ran the point at times, rebounded, and was the one player that was able to get inside the zone defense and get to the rim.

Cam Ward 6'2 senior Marshall- Easily the best player on the court and could get past his defender any time he wanted. Struggled at times but, was really forcing it at times.

Ryan Link 6'1 senior Marshall- Probably shot at least 75%, just didn't seem to miss. Everything was falling for him that he threw up. Just a very soft shooting touch.

Austin Sinden 6'4 senior Marshall- Nothing super impressive about him in this game, just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

I believe that Poynette could be a good team if they just hit the outside shots and took some better shots. They have nice overall team size and have a really nice core. On the other side Marshall will probably lean on Ward a lot and they really need to rebound better. If this team is making their threes though they could go far and possibly beat some very good teams.