DARLINGTON — The Marshall Cardinals proved to be the superior bird twice in the same week. Marshall knocked the Brodhead Cardinals out of the WIAA Division 4 regional playoffs March 4 62-44, then took care of business against the next night against the No. 2 seed Darlington Redbirds 60-49. 

For Darlington, the loss came after an 80-52 throttling of Poynette on March 4.

The time to shoot under 13% from behind the 3-point line could not have come at a worse time for Brodhead, which finished just 3 of 24 (12.5%) from downtown, nearly 20% lower than its season average.

Marshall was able to work its way to an 8-point halftime lead, and then outscore Brodhead by 10 in the second half. 

Owen Leifker had 17 points for Brodhead, including an 8-for-9 mark from the free throw line. Josiah Engen finished with 10 points, while Brady Malkow collected 12 rebounds.

Marshall was 6-for-11 from behind the arc. Reid Truschinski and Craig Ward each had 22 points for Marshall.