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The Red Raiders sank seven of eight free throws down the stretch, including five by David Bliss in the 53-50 win over the Redskins. Marlette, 1-0 in the division, is now 3-2 overall. Sandusky fell to 3-3 on the season.

After Sandusky started fast with a 19-15 first-quarter lead, the Raiders took over the game, leading 31-24 at the break and 43-33 heading in to the final quarter.

The Redskins, though, went on an 8-0 run to start the fourth. They eventually tied the game and then went up by two, 49-47, with less than two minutes remaining. That's when the free throw line became Marlette's friend. Bliss, a senior guard knocked down 5-of-6 in the final minute and junior John Bishop added two others to give the Raiders the victory.

Bliss finished with just seven points, but Coach Chris Storm had plenty of praise for his senior. "He's one of our better free throw shooters and he's a senior leader. He also did a great job out there on defense all night."

Bishop and Shane Mitrovich, an under-sized post player, each finished with 13 points.

"I was most impressed with Shane's inside game," said Storm. "He worked hard on (Matt) Grabitz (a 6'4" center for Sandusky) and got him into foul trouble."

Storm added, "Our kids played a good game and followed our game plan. We wanted to attack them, offensively, and not shy away from their big guy. We took 18 of our 22 shots in the first half from inside the paint."

Jordan Barrons and Austin Comment both notched eight points for Marlette.

Sandusky had a balanced scoring attack led by Sam Stevens with 11 points. Derek Neumayer and Grabitz both chipped in with nine and Tyler Coats had eight.