Albert Lea struggles against Rochester John Marshall

The Albert Lea boys’ basketball team entered its game against Rochester John Marshall hoping to slow the offensive firepower.

The size and speed of the Rockets would prove to be too much for the Tigers as they fell, 110-33.

The Tigers started the game with a big pop from the student section, when junior Dylan Scherff drilled a three-pointer to open scoring for the Tigers. However, the Rockets would jump out to an 18-point lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first half.

A bright spot for the Tigers toward the end of the half was senior Garret Piechowski. He went on a six-point scoring run, while also pulling down some big rebounds. He led first-half scoring for the Tigers with six and Scherff had four.

Things looked bad for Albert Lea when Scherff went down with an apparent knee injury, however, he would return to action in the second half.

The Tigers went to the locker rooms in a 69-17 hole at halftime.

Albert Lea came out in the second half and played more aggressively on both sides of the floor and created some space for each other offensively. However, Rochester’s depth and length would prove too much for the undersized Tigers.

“We knew what we were going up against,” head coach Lucas Novosad said. “They can shoot; they’re going to be physical and athletic. They are big kids. The next step for us in knowing that, is stepping up to that challenge. We talk a lot about habits, and we can’t revert back to the habit of getting into the mindset of OK, we’re down, what do we do know?’

“We’re seeing better things defensively in terms of rebounding and being a little bit more physical.”

The Tigers fall to 0-5 on the season and will play again Tuesday when they travel to Rochester to take on the Mayo Spartans.