PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - East Marshall junior Bryer Cline (31) shoots over South Tama defenders Nick Upah (5) and Barrett Jesina (15) during Monday’s non-conference basketball game in Tama. Cline scored 10 points as the Mustangs beat the host Trojans 88-48.

TAMA — East Marshall boys basketball had a little more in the tank at South Tama on Monday night.

After a high-octane first quarter between the Mustangs and Trojans, East Marshall blew past South Tama for an 88-48 romp at STC High School.

Cody Weaver led the Mustangs with 16 points, one of five in double figures along with Cael Curphy scoring 12 points, Jaxson Boswell and Leland Hamilton-Youngbird putting in 11 points each and Bryer Cline scoring 10 points.

East Marshall led 29-25 after the first quarter in a good eight minutes of shooting from both teams, then dominated the second quarter for a 50-31 lead at the halftime horn.

“I wasn’t really happy with the points South Tama was scoring, but I liked the pace,” East Marshall head coach Chris Hungerford said. “That’s our kind of pace and I think we just settled in on defense, got our feet underneath us in our first game back from break.

“We started hitting some of the halfcourt traps, we’re always looking to trap everywhere. We want our defense to turn into offense, get some easy baskets and demoralize the opponent.”

STC head coach Craig Harrison knew it’d take a lot of points to take down the Mustangs. Tanner Large scored 14 points to lead STC on Monday; Barrett Jesina added 12 points and Cyrell Etzen had 10 points.

“We couldn’t keep pace,” Harrison said. “Our kids played hard and we mostly followed the game plan, but we just couldn’t make the shots.”

After losing their first four games of the season, including two by just two points, East Marshall has won three of the last four games, including playing close with a ranked Grundy Center squad in the Mustangs’ final game before break.

“We’re playing people really, really tough, we just haven’t quite gotten over that hump,” Hungerford said. “Now we’re doing a lot of things right, and we’ve got some things that we’re focusing on for this second half that we just want to put our eggs in those baskets and try and play as good as possible going into tournament time.”

STC falls to 0-8, a team still seeking an identity with many new faces getting varsity minutes this winter. The Trojans welcome Mount Vernon on Tuesday, and head to Solon on Friday.

“We’ve got a little bit more depth now,” Harrison said. “Guys are stepping up, we’re playing a little better. We’ve got a lot of games in January, and we’ll get kids a lot of chances to play.”

The sky’s the limit for an East Marshall team that’s been stuck on seven wins for each of the last four seasons.

“We’re trying to do some things that haven’t been done for East Marshall basketball in awhile,” Hungerford said. “It’s time to beat some of those teams we haven’t beaten in five, six years, it’s time to move the needle. We want to win those games that will hopefully give us a better seed in the tournament.”

Balanced scoring like Monday’s effort has been the key to success. Hamilton-Youngbird leads the way at 11.9 points per game going into Monday’s contest but Weaver, Bidwell and Blake Neuroth also average between 10 and 11 per game and Curphy is within a round-up at 9.7 per tilt.

“You’ll never get one or two guys to do it all,” Hungerford said. “We’re always looking for people to step up and contribute and maximize everybody’s abilities, put them in situations where they can be successful.”

Union is one of those teams that East Marshall hasn’t been able to beat in recent years — the Mustangs look for their first win against the Knights since 2020 when Union comes to Le Grand on Tuesday.

East Marshall 88, South Tama 48

EAST MARSHALL (3-5) — Blake Neuroth 2 2-2 7, Cody Weaver 6 3-5 16, Jackson Bidwell 4 0-0 9, Cael Curphy 6 0-0 12, Leland Hamilton-Youngbird 4 0-0 11, Kaden Good 0 0-0 0, Austin Pansegrau 0 0-0 0, Bryer Cline 5 0-0 10, Jaxson Boswell 4 0-1 11, Christian Little 0 0-0 0, Eli Burns 1 5-8 7, Kael Koch 0 1-2 1, Zach Denham 1 0-4 2, Jackson Busch 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 34 11-22 88.

SOUTH TAMA (0-8) — Cyrell Etzen 4 1-2 10, Tanner Large 5 1-4 14, Nick Upah 1 0-0 2, Barrett Jesina 5 1-1 12, Jerome Kapayou 1 1-2 3, Marion Harris 2 0-0 5, Leo Garcia 0 0-0 0, Michael Henry 1 0-0 2, Natayvious Sanders 0 0-0 0, Marten Langen 0 0-0 0, Wesley Hanus 0 0-0 0, Jordan DeFoe 0 0-0 0, Damias Bear 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 4-9 48.

E. MARSHALL 29 21 23 15 — 88

S. TAMA 25 6 10 7 — 48

3-Point Goals-EM 9 (Hamilton-Youngbird 3, Boswell 3, Neuroth, Weaver, Good), STC 6 (Large 3, Etzen, Jesina, Harris). Team Fouls-EM 11, STC 17. Fouled Out-none.