Marietta’s Zaiden Wittekind (20) goes up for a jumper as Monroe Central’s Tucker Howell (22) and Tyler Whitacre (1) defend during Tuesday’s game at Sutton Gym. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Monroe Central head coach Mason Lang knew what kind of team he had coming to the 2024-25 season.

That’s why Lang put together a juggernaut of a schedule for his squad. The Seminoles, one of the most talented teams in the area regardless of division, have been through a gauntlet this season. That continued Tuesday when Monroe Central invaded Marietta High School’s Sutton Gym, a place the Tigers had not lost in eight tries this season, and came away with a 65-52 victory.

The ‘Noles (13-2) dominated the first half, taking a 34-18 halftime lead. However, the Tigers (11-3) put together a ferocious comeback to get within one point in the fourth. MCHS, as it has most of the year, withstood its opponent’s rally and held on for the win.

“We jumped out to a lead, but we knew they’re a good team,” Lang said. “They play really great on their home floor. We knew they had a punch left in them. We didn’t prevent the run, but we responded really well. We figured out their pressure, started breaking it and started getting easy baskets on the back end.”

Their full-court press defense helped fuel the Tigers’ second-half comeback as the Seminoles committed seven turnovers in the third quarter.

Zaiden Wittekind’s putback off his own miss got the orange and black within 10, 38-28, at the 4:20 mark of the third. Lucas Miller buried a 3-pointer before baskets by Trey Hawkins and Logan Grosklos cut the deficit to 40-37 going into the final eight minutes of play.

Chance Allen and Tucker Howell opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back baskets to give Monroe Central a seven-point cushion, but an 8-2 run by the Tigers, powered by two more 3-pointers by Miller, made it 46-45 with 5:32 remaining.

The home team ran out of gas, though, as the Seminoles answered with seven straight points as part of a 19-7 run to close it out.

“When you’ve got to make a run like that, it takes a lot of energy,” Lang said. “It took a lot out of them to make that run. We’ve been playing tough games all year. We’ve had a tough schedule, as you can see by us coming down here and playing these guys. I think it’s really prepared us for a game like this.”

Four players reached double figures in the scoring column for Monroe, led by Allen’s 21. Caedyn Silva added 14 points, Cooper Howell chipped in 13 and Tucker Howell put up 11.

The ‘Noles play fast up and down the court. Once they solved the Tigers’ press, they were able to stretch a one-point lead to double digits in the blink of an eye.

“We want to be able to handle that pressure,” Lang said. “They threw it at us — I feel like seven turnovers in the third quarter’s not great for us. We want to try to get that number down, especially when a team is fighting like that. I felt we responded well in the fourth quarter and never let them get that lead. Going forward, when a team does pressure us, we want to be able to handle it in the moment.”

Miller knocked down four 3-pointers and led the Tigers with 14 points. Owen Riley added 13, Wittekind netted 10 and Hawkins tallied eight.

MHS is on the road today against Athens and Saturday against Morgan.

“Marietta’s a really good team, a really well-coached team,” said Lang, whose ‘Noles play host to Caldwell Friday. “I think a lot of their comeback was they had the perfect sets called to get easy buckets for themselves. (Miller) got hot. In the games we had watched, we hadn’t seen that. He shot them right back in the game.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.