Dalen Gebauer for a baseline ….

Dalen Gebauer for a baseline jumper and Vlach for a pair of 3s, the second of which pulled Rib Lake within 17-16 with just under 10 minutes left in the half.

Unfortunately, the Redmen could never find a defensive scheme that could consistently slow down the Red Raiders, who shot 55.7% from the field (34 for 61) overall. If Warren got established in the post, he was virtually unguardable. He made 11 of 15 shots from the field. Underwood made eight of 16 shots from the field and dished out four assists while finding the driving lanes throughout the night. Cooper Hoeksema was the assassin from outside, leading Marathon with three hits from 3-point range while scoring 13 points.

Marathon went on an 11-2 run, capped by a Hoeksema 3, to extend to a 28-18 lead. Blomberg answered with a 3 and hit another one late. That late shot, combined with a Michael Borchardt triple, kept Rib Lake within striking distance at the half at 37-29.

Marathon shot 60.7% from the field in the second half (17 of 28) and steadily pulled away. It was 46-35 when Underwood made a nice pass in the lane to Mason Seehafer for a layup, Underwood scored, Warren got an easy one of a baseline inbound, Drew Love knocked down a corner 3 and Warren got a stickback to open up an insurmountable 57-35 lead with just over 13 minutes to go.

Rib Lake wound up shooting 30.1% for the game (22 of 73) after starting out at 33%, both from 2-point and 3-point range in the first half. The Redmen forced 17 turnovers while committing just 12. Marathon had a big 50-32 rebounding edge and had a 56-24 advantage in points in the paint.

Vlach hit double figures for Rib Lake with 10 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Borchardt finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Donovan Sutherland had six points, seven rebounds and three assists. Gebauer had five points off the bench, Andrew Wudi was held to two points, four assists and two rebounds and Talon Scheithauer hit a shot at the final buzzer.