Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forward JR Vierstraete (left) passes the basketball while driving along the baseline during the first half of a prep boys basketball game against Harrisburg (S.D.) on Tuesday in Marshall. 

MARSHALL — After a tightly contested first half, the No. 10 Marshall boys basketball team couldn’t keep pace with South Dakota Class AA No. 4 Harrisburg on Tuesday. The visiting Tigers only got stronger as the game progressed and eventually handed Marshall a 71-62 loss.

Saturday’s loss was the third in a row for Marshall as it took on a tough stretch of opponents. Marshall. After beating Class AA No. 9 Belle Plaine by 29 points on Jan. 24, Marshall lost by 5 to South Dakota Class AA No. 2 Brandon Valley on Jan. 28 and lost to Minnesota Class AA No. 2 Waseca by 15 on Friday.

“[We want the team] to sustain an effort for 36 minutes better than what we got in the last three games. We’ve had some good moments in the last three games where we’ve seen a lot of positives, but we’ve also seen the other side,” Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said. “Offensively, it’s just about continuing to execute… defensively, it’s about doing our assignments and working together as a group. We’ve just got to do a better job of being more verbal on the floor, working together through those tough moments and trying to have a little bit more grit.”

Back-and-forth play defined the first half. Neither team led by more than one possession until Crayton Jibben hit a foot-on-the-line 2 and Stellen Larson got a putback to make the score 25-21 in favor of the visiting Tigers. Harrisburg kept that lead intact for the remainder of the game.

Harrisburg rode those points to a 9-0 run, making its lead 30-21 before Jayden Meister ended the Marshall drought with an and-1 in the final two minutes of the first half.

“[Harrisburg was] executing their offense really well and defensively we missed some assignments on the defensive backside,” Carroll said of Harrisburg’s late surge in the first half, adding that he felt the team could have been in better position to defend shooters at points and struggled to adapt offensively to Harrisburg’s zone defense.

Harrisburg answered, but a Mensink 3-pointer made it a 5-point game.The Marshall Tigers had opportunities to cut further into the deficit before halftime, but a fruitless possession with four offensive rebounds left Marshall with a 32-27 deficit at the break.

Harrisburg outrebounded Marshall 38-23 on the night, including a 15-7 edge on the offensive glass. Jayden Meister led Marshall’s rebounding effort with four total boards and tied Alex Franson with a team-high two offensive boards. Kaden Anderson led Harrisburg with six total rebounds while David Doe grabbed three offensive boards.

While many of Marshall’s usual leading scorers struggled to get going early, Mason Graven had the hot hand early for Marshall. He scored 8 first-half points and set up many others with his passing skills.

Graven finished the night tied with Oliver Voigt as Marshall’s second-leading scorer. Franson led the team with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half, while Cooper Mensink added another 9.

Harrisburg scored the first points of the second half but a Mensink driving layup and a pair of free throws made by Franson brought Marshall within one possession of the visiting Tigers.

From there, however, the lead starts to slip away from Marshall. Marshall’s Braxton Koster answers Kaden Anderson’s 3 to keep Marshall within one possession, but back-to-back successful drives into the paint by Isaiah Tap and another 3 for Harrisburg quickly bring the visitors’ lead up to 10 points.

After the Tigers forced a miss one trip down the court, Aiden Costain grabbed an offensive rebound and knocked down a pair of free throws to bring Harrisburg’s lead up to 48-36 with under 12 minutes left.

Harrisburg went on to lead by as many as 18 points in the game. Franson caught fire late to bring Marshall within single digits, slamming home a dunk to trim the deficit to 71-62, but with only 30 seconds left Marshall had no time to mount a comeback.

Franson continued to heat up as the game progressed, eventually slamming home a dunk to bring Marshall back within single digits. Yet, the dunk came in the final 30 seconds and Harrisburg held on for the win from there.

Franson recorded four steals for Marshall while JR Vierstraete added a steal and a block.

Marshall now falls to 14-6 on the season with its third consecutive loss. The Tigers will look to right the ship when they host St. Peter (10-10) on Friday at 7:15 p.m.