Photo by Samantha Davis. Senior guard Alexander Franson dribbles up the court in the first half against the New Ulm Eagles Tuesday night at Marshall High School in the season opener. The Tigers defeated the Eagles 81-58 behind Franson’s game-high 20 points and four 3-pointers.

MARSHALL — Behind a strong defensive effort and well-balanced shooting all over the court, the Marshall boys basketball team opened its 2024 season with a dominant 81-58 conference win Tuesday evening over the New Ulm Eagles. Alexander Franson led all scorers with 20 points on the night, and shot 4-for-5 from the 3-point line.

“I think you get into that first game of the year, and you can always have those jitters,” Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said. “Games that we play early in the season can impact later on in the year’s end. This is an extremely important game for our team. Our team was focused on coming in and understanding that was the case in tonight’s game, and I thought the kids did a good job of sticking together.”  

Marshall held a 12-point lead going into halftime, and never lost sight of its advantage the rest of the game. In addition to Franson, Cooper Mensink followed with 17 points, while Mason Graven added another 10. The Tigers hit seven 3-pointers throughout the night. 

Overall, Marshall shot 57.9% from the field and 50% from the arc. Jayden Meister led the team with nine rebounds, while JR Vierstraete collected another seven. The Tigers had 40 points in the paint to the Eagles’ 26.

Marshall stepped onto the court after a 9-18 overall 2023 run, and opened the season with tough competition. New Ulm was last year’s Big South Conference champion, and was the Section AAA runner-up after finishing the year 21-8 overall. 

The two times Marshall played the Eagles last season on Dec. 15 and Jan. 26, the Tigers fell by double digits, 84-70 and 88-78 respectively. Tuesday night however, the Tigers got their revenge by effective shooting and a full-team defensive effort collecting charges and steals. 

“We had a tough year last year, but the kids did a good job of coming back this summer, and they were able to build some confidence coming into the season,” Carroll said. “These nights are possible, but it takes the willingness of our group to work together in order for nights like this to happen. We always have to continue to build on it.” 

Marshall has an older roster this year, holding seven seniors and five juniors. Carroll said he will continue to look at the upperclassmen to make sure the team continues to be locked in. 

The starting five for the first game was Franson, Mensink, Braxton Koster, Meister and Jack Meier. 

The first half brought some early challenges with both teams struggling with ball handling errors, but it was Marshall that got its momentum going with an early lead behind efforts on both ends of the court. Mensink led all scorers at the half with 14 points, followed by Mason Graven with 10. 

Meister won the the tip for the Tigers, who was the tallest player on the court standing 6-foot-6, which resulted in a 3-pointer from Franson at the top of the key. 

Franson immediately got a steal following, and was fouled on the fastbreak layup, but missed both free throws. 

Marshall was aggressive offensively, both crashing the paint and being efficient from the 3-point line. It also had a handful of steals and tips out of bounds on New Ulm’s offense, which continued to build pressure on the Eagles. 

New Ulm got on the board off an inbound play with a jump shot from Zach Hubbard who was fouled, and made the free throw. 

Owen Castleman hit a 3-pointer to cut the Eagles’ early deficit to 11-6, but Mensink for Marshall hit one in the corner on the next possession to respond. 

“The kids did a good job of executing our offense and creating good opportunities, good shots. We got a lot of shots that were high percentage shots or three point shots,” Carroll said. “We did a good job of attacking the rim and finding baskets near the rim as well.” 

Joey Wise continued to be a highlight on New Ulm’s defense with a few steals. 

On Wise’s first steal, Mensink sprinted back on defense for Marshall and drew a charge to make up for the turnover. Meister then followed the ball down the court off an Eagles turnover for a wide open dunk as the Tigers’ gym erupted. 

Hubbard was able to sink a jumper over Meister, while Marshall still held a 28-17 edge, and Franson got the points back right after with a corner three. 

New Ulm went on a quick 5-0 run with a 3-pointer from Mitchell Hopp and a layup from Levi Hopp, but Franson again sank a 3-pointer for the Tigers to stop a bigger run from taking place. 

Aiden Bly grabbed Marshall’s second charge on the night following an Eagles fast break attempt. 

Both teams were in the bonus in the final minute of the half. Marshall had 10 team fouls, while New Ulm had nine. The half ended with an exchange of steals between Joshua Leibfried for Marshall, and Wise again for the Eagles. 

Both steals resulted in easy layups, and Marshall went into the locker room with a 49-37 advantage. 

“I think we had some aggressive struggles defensively in the first half, or we could have done a better job of communicating,” Carroll said. “It’s good to get to halftime and refocus defensively on what we needed to do a better job at. I thought our team had a much better effort defensively in the second half.” 

New Ulm came into the second half with a bit more heat, going on a 6-0 run after the Eagles hit a three. 

But, Koster hit a jump shot to stop the Eagles’ early momentum. 

New Ulm’s Brady Dennis and Marshall’s Franson ran into a collision early in the half, which resulted in Dennis going out of the game after appearing to get an open cut to the face. 

Franson stayed in the game with no apparent injuries, and Dennis returned later in the half with a bandage over his left eyebrow. 

Meier grabbed Marshall’s third charge on the night after a New Ulm three, showing the Tigers weren’t slowing down on either end. 

“Defensively, the charges was good to see our kids competing and doing that, because that’s not something that just happens,” Carroll said. “That’s the mindset that the players have to have, and the players had a great mindset defensively, looking to get in position and take a charge. We were definitely excited for their effort on drawing those.” 

After Franson found himself open on the wing for another three, Marshall jumped to a 20-point lead at 71-51 with just over seven minutes left. 

The remainder of the game was a shutout, with the Tigers maintaining a strong double digit lead, leaving New Ulm answerless. 

Marshall will next look to stay in the win column as it travels to Luverne on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. 

“It’s a 26-game season, and this is just one game. We have another big game coming Friday night,” Carroll said. “We have two days of practice before our next game, and it’s going to be important that we refocus and get ready for the next one.”