Marshall didn't feel it had much of a chance in Tuesday night's section basketball opener against Waseca, So here's a video that shows how the Tigers decided to handle the situation. You really don't need to watch a lot of it, unless you're really really bored.
The final score: Waseca 17, Marshall 4.
"Marshall made it known right away that they had very little interest in challenging the tough defense of the Jays," wrote Ian Srp of the Waseca County News.
Srp went on to describe the scene: "As Tigers sophomore guard Lenei Estrada stood near center court for what seemed like an eternity, the student section decided it was up to them to entertain the crowd. Not only did a true Minnesota kids' game of 'Duck, Duck, Grey Duck' break out among the cheerleaders, but synchronized swaying and chanting kept the crowd in the game."
You can read his full story here.
Here's another look:
This happens every now and again when basketball is played without a shot clock. What's interesting here is that Marshall wasn't a terrible team. The Tigers finished the season with an 18-9 record, which included losses to Waseca earlier in the season by 60-52 and 54-37 scores.
The Twitter feed @Follow_The_Rock, which you should follow if you have an interest in high school basketball in Minnesota, summarized a postgame radio interview with Marshall coach Dan Westby.
Waseca coach Joan Conway told Srb: "I didn't expect that. I knew it could happen, but there's never a time that you think a team will hold the ball when they're down points. We worked on a lot of things this week in preparation for this game and didn't really have to use any of it."
As you can imagine, the game set off a bit of an eruption on social media, about everything from the need for a shot clock in high school basketball to concerns about coaching philosophy.
One person pointed out that Tuesday was the anniversary of a North Dakota high school game that caused the shot-clock debate to heat up.
And if you've gotten this far, you deserve to see a game between Waseca and Marshall. It was a boys' basketball section game from two years ago that produced a bit more excitement before ending in four overtimes.
