Dominant Second Half Leads Marysville to Win Over Concordia, 58-42

The Marysville Bulldogs posted a dominant second half to hand the Concordia High School Boys Basketball team a 58-42 loss in the Panthers' North Central Kansas League opener on Tuesday, December 13th.  The loss marks the first for Concordia this season, who now sits at 3-1 overall.

Concordia took an early 9-5 lead at the end of the first quarter before leading 23-16 at the halftime break after all six of the Panthers that played in the first half managed to score.  The Bulldogs struggled early against Concordia's active zone defense, connecting on just 3-of-15 (20.0%) outside shots in the opening half.

The Panthers were then held scoreless through the first four minutes of the second half and Marysville caught fire, tying the game up at 23-all with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter.  The Bulldogs knocked down four three-pointers and outscored Concordia 19-6 in the third period to grab a 35-29 lead heading to the final eight minutes of action.

Marysville continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter, opening the final frame on a 12-7 run to capture their first double-digit lead of the night at 47-36 with 5:05 to go.  The Bulldogs outscored Concordia 42-19 in the second half to pick up their second straight league win.

Four players finished in double figures for Marysville, led by Senior Jack Lauer with 16.  Sophomore Will Otott posted 13 points, while Seniors Rook Williams and Sander Zutterman each collected 10 points.

Concordia was led in the loss by Sophomore Peyton Retter who scored 16 points off 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, including a perfect 4-of-4 night from behind the arc.  Retter, who had 9 of his team's 19 points in the second half, was named our Nex-Tech Wireless MVP of the Game.

Junior Guard Joey Henderson finished with 8 points, 3 steals and 2 assists.  He received our H&R Block of the Game.

The Panthers were limited to just 4 rebounds in the second half and were outrebounded on the night 30-21.

Concordia continues North Central Kansas League play on Friday, December 16th when they return home to host the 2-2 Abilene Cowboys.  Abilene, ranked #7 in Class 4A, started the year with wins over Smoky Valley and Rock Creek before dropping their last two ballgames, including a 77-59 road loss to the top-ranked team in Class 3A, the Southeast of Saline Trojans, on Tuesday night.  Live coverage of Friday's game can be heard on 1390 KNCK, 98.3 FM and NCKToday.com.

Listen to audio highlights from Concordia's 58-42 road loss at Marysville: