Marietta’s Lucas Miller goes up for a shot as Fort Frye’s Connor Sturm contests during Friday’s game at Dan Liedtke Court. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

BEVERLY — Playing in the unfriendly confines of Dan Liedtke Court at Fort Frye High School, it was important for the Marietta Tigers to get off to a good start to quiet the large crowd on hand for the first match-up of the season between them and the Cadets.

The athletic Tigers actually got off to a great start as they exploded for 26 points in the first quarter and built an 18-point lead by the time the first period was complete.

Marietta used its patented pressure defense to force the Cadets into seven first quarter turnovers and knocked down four three-pointers in the first eight minutes alone to put Fort Frye on the ropes in a hurry. The early cushion was enough to propel MHS to a 67-39 victory.

“I thought our energy was really good and we came out and played hard and set the tone defensively,” said Marietta head coach Austin Gardner. “We missed a ton around the basket there early but we were able to knock down some three’s later in the quarter.”

Tiger senior Lucas Miller, known for his prowess on defense, led the early offensive charge as he scored seven of his team’s first 12 points.

Fort Frye’s Caden Henniger pulls up for a jumper as Marietta’s Graesyn Moat contests during Friday’s game at Dan Liedtke Court. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Miller usually draws the assignment of guarding the other team’s best player, but on this night it was his turn to lead the Tigers on the offensive end.

“Lucas brings it every day in practice and is a great leader for our team,” said Gardner. “He competes every night and had probably his best offensive night of the year and he’s deserving because he’s earned it.”

Miller along with fellow seniors Braiden Plaugher and Logan Grosklos and freshman Graesyn Moat all got in on the long-range barrage by knocking down a triple in the opening quarter.

The Cadets scored the first four points of the second quarter before Marietta answered with a 7-0 run of their own to stretch their lead to 33-12.

Back-to-back Cadet buckets by Cade Hoskinson and Grady Hesson trimmed the MHS lead to 17 but the Tigers finished out the opening half on a 15-2 run to extend their lead to 30 (48-18) at the break to put a running clock in motion to begin the second half.

Fort Frye graduate Emmie Duskey, center, made first team All-Ohio last year in girls basketball. Joined by her former coaches, including Dan Liedtke (second from right), Duskey was honored at halftime of Friday’s game. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Marietta matched their first quarter total in the second with four more three-pointers including a pair from senior Owen Riley.

Plaugher and Moat each knocked down their second three-pointer of the game for the Tigers.

Marietta made 8-of-14 shots from behind the arc in the opening half.

The Tigers would go on to win the third quarter by a 13-11 margin to keep the running clock in motion but allowed their lead to slip under 30 in the final quarter after emptying their bench.

Riley and fellow senior Trey Hawkins led the way for the Tigers with 15 points apiece. Miller reached double figures with 11 points while dishing out a game-high four assists.

Grosklos, Plaugher and Moat added eight points apiece for the winners, who improved to 10-2 on the season.

The Tigers ability to have a different scoring leader every single night makes them an incredibly difficult matchup for their opponents.

“That’s the beauty of our team that it can be anybody leading the way on any given night,” said Gardner. “It makes us a hard team to prepare for.”

The loss was the fourth in a row for the Eric Henniger-coached Cadets after they opened the season by winning their first six games.

Grady Hesson led the way for The Fort with 11 points while Hoskinson, senior Kainan Bradford and sophomore Ethan Wagner added six points apiece.

The Cadets will look to snap their losing streak back at home Tuesday night when they host the Frontier Cougars.

Fort Frye downed the Cougars 53-43 last month in New Matamoras.

As the season shifts into the stretch run, Gardner feels like his team has all the potential to make some noise the rest of the season and into the postseason.

“I think we are starting to play better and better. Now the question is can we clean some things up,” said Gardner, whose team will host arch-rival Warren on Monday night looking for a season sweep. “They are simple things to fix but complex sometimes for our team. We need to simplify some things a little bit and I think if we do we can be even more effective down the road.”