Wildcats net win over Jays

MORAN — Marmaton Valley High’s boys cut down on the turnovers Friday, which led to another notch in the victory column.
The Wildcats, who have been plagued by turnovers most of the season, committed just nine, which kept their offense humming throughout in a 59-41 win over visiting Pleasanton High.
The win lifts Marmaton Valley’s record to 3-10 on the season.
The key, Wildcat head coach Denny Lasley said, was Marmaton Valley’s willingness to be patient with the ball.
“We weren’t trying to score as soon as we got the ball up the floor,” Lasley said. “Everybody played well.”
Marmaton Valley edged in front 13-12 after one period before a 13-6 run gave the Wildcats a 26-18 halftime advantage.
The lead grew throughout the second half. The Wildcats led 41-29 after three periods and closed the game with an 18-12 run.
Dalton Houk scored a game-high 20 points for Marmaton Valley, while Landon Hammond added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Cole Becker scored 11 points with 10 boards and seven steals. Tanner Lewis had five assists and scored seven points..
“We figured out it’s a lot more fun to move the ball around and take our time trying to score when we have a lead,” Lasley said. “We were able to control the game. We pretty much played full-court man-to-man defense.”
Joey Morrisey scored 18 points to lead the Blu-Jays.
Marmaton Valley travels to St. Paul Monday for a makeup game. Then the Wildcats go to Buffalo to take on the Altoona-Midway High Jets in Three Rivers League play.
Marmaton Valley (13-13-15-18—59) (FG/3-pt): Lewis 2/1-0-2-7, Louk 3-0-4-6, Houk 3/3-5-4-20, Hammond 4-3-3-11, Becker 5-1-2-11, Carr 0-0-1-0, Stewart 1-0-1-2, Smart 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 19/4-9-18-59.
Pleasanton (12-6-11-12—41) (FG/3-pt): Morrisey 9-0-2-18, Schoenhals 0-0-5-0, G. Coffman 0/1-3-1-6, Baker 0-0-1-0, R. Hein 2-0-2-4, Schmidt 1-0-1-2, Marshall 1-2-1-4, Inman 1-5-3-7. TOTALS: 14/1-10-16-41.