PHOTO JAKE RYDER

LE GRAND — East Marshall girls basketball is always up for something new.

First-year head coach Sean Thurm thinks the Mustangs are always most confident doing something different on the hardwood, and East Marshall switched it up and played smart to narrowly stop GMG, 48-44, at East Marshall High School on Monday, Feb. 5.

Morgan Neuroth poured in 26 points for the Mustangs (6-15), including 17 in the first half.

The teams were tied 23-all at halftime but the Mustangs scored the first nine of the third quarter and outscored the Wolverines 18-7 overall in the quarter.

“Our girls love to change it up,” Thurm said. “We’ll probably throw in something new against [AGWSR] tomorrow too.”

PHOTO JAKE RYDER

GMG rallied within 47-44 in the final minute after a Maecyn Lewis 3-pointer. Neuroth hit only one of two free throws on the other end but GMG couldn’t get a good look at a shot to keep closing the gap and the Mustangs rebounded and dribbled out the clock for the win.

Ava Bringmann finished with nine for the Mustangs, seven of which came in the second half. Delaney Ryan added five second-half points.

“We came together as a team,” Neuroth added. “Everybody scored, everybody contributed, we reduced the turnovers and we worked hard on defense.”

Neuroth recently broke the school record for career points but the Mustangs are most effective when others can get going on the scoresheet, Thurm said.

She broke the record against Grundy Center earlier this year.

“I knew I was close at the beginning of last year and it just makes me feel accomplished,” Neuroth said. “And it’s all possible because of the teammates and coaches that I’ve had. We all make each other better.”

Reese Dieleman led the Wolverines (10-11) with 17 points, 11 of those in the second half. Jocee Mason chipped in 11 points.

“We hit a lull in that third quarter,” said GMG coach Mick Long. “But we never quit. This is a good game to get us ready for tournament time. We did our best to slow [Neuroth] down but she made some big plays in that fourth quarter, and that was probably the difference.”

Later in the week on Thursday, GMG hosted Belle Plaine in a Class 1A Region 2 opener. The Wolverines stuffed the Plainsmen 44-19 to move on to the quarterfinals.

The Wolverines (11-11) were tied with the Plainsmen (3-18) after one period of play, 9-9, before outscoring Belle Plaine 35-10 the rest of the way.

Maecyn Lewis scored a team-leading 14 points for GMG, keyed by seven steals, and Reese Dieleman added 13 points thanks to three 3-pointers. Jocee Mason contributed eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

GMG was scheduled to play No. 13 Coon Rapids-Bayard (18-3) at Coon Rapids-Bayard Secondary School this past Tuesday in the regional quarterfinals.