Marietta’s Zaiden Wittekind attempts a jumper during a game against Logan Tuesday at Sutton Gym. Marietta won, 55-18.
(Photo by Mike Morrison)
<!–
Granted it’s just two games into a very long basketball season but so far the Marietta Tigers look like they are going to be a force to be reckoned with.
For the second straight game at Sutton Gymnasium the Tigers completely dominated their opponent as they built a double-digit first quarter lead and never looked back en route to a 55-18 win over the Logan Chieftains.
The Tiger defense has been relentless in the first two games as they have allowed their opponents to score just 16 field goals combined in the first two games of the season.
“I was really impressed with how hard we played defensively last week against Athens and I challenged our guys to keep that level of intensity up tonight,” said second-year Marietta head coach Austin Gardner. “They played as hard and maybe even harder tonight and that’s the kind of effort we are going to give every game.”
Just like they did at Athens the Tigers came out clicking on all cylinders as they opened the game on a 5-0 run and out-pointed the Chieftains 19-5 in the opening quarter.
Senior Elyjah Lieras-Kelley set the stage early as he splashed in a triple to open the game and then assisted Tiger big man Alex Kendall to account for the first five Marietta points.
Logan got their first basket of the game when Jack Walsh knocked down what would prove to be the only three-pointer of the game for the visitors.
The Tigers responded with back-to-back buckets inside by Kendall and Zaiden Wittekind and then did damage from behind the arc when Owen Riley and Kendall each knocked down three-pointers to push the Tiger lead to 15-3.
After proving he can do damage on the perimeter, the six-foot-eight inch Kendall showed he can be dominant on the inside as well as he completed an old-fashioned three-point play to increase the lead to 15.
Gardner knows it is rare to have a player the size of Kendall who can make things happen from anywhere on the basketball court and he plans to take full advantage.
“He can beat you inside and then step back and hit the three which opens things up,” said Gardner of Kendall, who has signed to play collegiate hoops at Gardner’s Alma Mater Findlay next season. “He has worked really hard on his shot and it shows.”
Kendall would continue to impress from behind the arc as he canned three triples alone in the second quarter as the Tigers extended their lead to 38-11 at the intermission.
MHS continued to add on in the second half as they scored the first seven points to quickly push their lead over 30 to set up a running clock for the final quarter of play.
It really didn’t matter whether the Tigers were scoring from the inside or from the outside as they shot 53 percent from both.
Marietta made nine-of-17 shots from long distance led by Kendall’s four triples and a pair by Brayden Jones.
Kendall, who has missed just three shots combined from the floor in the Tigers first two games, led all scorers with 23 points and also yanked down a team-high seven boards.
Lieras-Kelley had a solid all around game as well as the Tiger senior scored 11 points, dished out five assists and registered three steals on the defensive end.
“Elyjah (Lieras-Kelley) really set the tone early on especially on defense,” said Gardner. “He has worked so hard and is a great teammate.”
The Tigers will hit the road for the first time this season Friday when they travel to Gallia Academy.