Staff Photo By Jake Olson: Martin County West's Jackson Wilmes looks for an outlet during the second half of Monday night's contest against Nicollet in Trimont.

TRIMONT – Nicollet’s defensive pressure and ball movement seemed to be too much for the Martin County West boys basketball team to handle on Monday night, toppling the Mavericks 75-37 at the Trimont Junior High gymnasium.

The Raiders used a variety of different defensive schemes in full-court situations, forcing a handful of tough shots, turnovers, and empty possessions for Martin County West.

“We knew the press was coming, it was just a matter of being able to make shots when you break it there,” Mavericks head coach Phillip Rotunda said.

This press was a 1-2-1-1 scheme, or a “diamond” setup. Once the offense had possession, opponents would instantly trap the ball handler to force turnovers, speed up the tempo and prompt overall fatigue.

By the time Rotunda called his first timeout of the game, the Raiders already had three layups off steals and a 9-2 advantage with 15 minutes remaining in the half.

A Jackson Wilmes assisted three-pointer from Caiden Loken cut into the lead 13-7, but Nicollet controlled the rest of the half. Three consecutive dribble drive layups from Toby Oscarson, Keegan Hulke and AJ Kramer forced another Rotunda timeout with his team facing a 21-7 disadvantage.

But the Mavericks showed some life during the final eight minutes before break. The combination of Lixon Forsberg and Knox Larson gave Rotunda’s team a little spark leading up to the intermission. Larson rang two straight three-pointers before calmly knocking down a pair of free throws before the halftime buzzer to set the score at 37-23.

“Someone like Knox to come in there, when we have been struggling to score and shoot, to be able to have a guy that comes in there and hits those shots to give us that spark,” Rotunda said. “Just kind of taking a risk and a spark, he did his job going in there.”

Nicollet came into the second half with even more intensity than at the start. A Rotunda timeout at the 15-minute mark was unable to prevent the damage from building, as the Raiders strung together six consecutive baskets to balloon the lead to 55-25.

Chase Owens and Landon Winter tallied a pair of buckets to chip into the deficit, but any sort of comeback seemed too large for the eight minutes remaining. Nicollet finished the second half outscoring Martin County West by 24 points, earning its third win of the season while remaining undefeated.

For Martin County West (0-4), the team will travel to St. Clair this Friday in search of the team’s first win of the season. While the results haven’t shown in the wins and losses column, Rotunda continues to see growth from his team on a game-by-game basis.

“Just trying to find guys when you replace 95% of your scoring [from a year ago] is going to be a growing pain,” Rotunda said. “We’ve had tough opponents, with the first three of the four being the top teams in the section. It’s good to see how far you need to go when you play [those opponents].”