Marquette junior Jacob MacPhee, left, secures a rebound during a scrum around the net during a high school boys basketball game played against Gladstone on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, at the MSHS Barb Crill Gym. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Mitch “The Big Dog” Vosburg)

MARQUETTE — Marquette Senior High School started its 2023-24 boys basketball season on the right foot on Tuesday, using a 15-0 third-quarter run to earn a 64-49 home win over Gladstone on Tuesday night.

“They kind of kicked it in in the second half, but we’re still making too many immature mistakes,” MSHS head coach Rich Ledy said. “I was hoping the experience of playing a whole year (last season) would help us. We have to go back to the drawing board and work on some of that.

“But the kids played hard, and at the start of the season that’s all I can really ask for.”

With a 24-19 lead at halftime, Marquette was struggling to pull away. Ledy and his staff mutually came to a consensus as to how the second half needed to go.

If Marquette could start making shots, it would win. If not, it’s anyone’s game.

The Braves started the third quarter on a 5-0 run behind a pair of baskets from senior Luke Bracket that tied the score.

Then junior Jaxon Jurmu began to do what the Marquette staff felt needed to be done — he started making shots.

He drained a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to reopen a five-point lead. After a successful three-point play off an and-1 putback from junior Jacob MacPhee, Jurmu stayed hot.

Jurmu sank a layup to put his team on top 34-24. He scored inside the paint, drew a foul and sank the free throw to complete a three-point play to go up 13. On the ensuing defensive stand, Jurmu earned a steal and went the distance for a layup.

By the time the Braves called a timeout to regroup, the damage had already been done. The 15-0 run put the young men wearing white and red jerseys ahead 39-24 with 3:04 left in the third quarter.

Marquette continued to keep its foot on the gas, never relinquishing much of its advantage while scoring 40 of its 64 points in the second half.

“We finally made a shot, then our defense picked up,” Ledy said. “That was the problem we had all last year; if we weren’t making shots, our defense was kind of lazy.

“I’m trying to get through to them that when you miss shots you have to play harder on defense. We still have that disconnect. But we’re working on it. We’re spending a ton of time in practice trying to get them over that hump.”

Jurmu led all players with 27 points, including five triples and a 6-of-7 performance at the free throw line. MacPhee added 13 points, while junior Kyle Sager scored nine. Senior Jack Quinnell and sophomore Connor Fierstine added six points each as junior Henry Wood put in three.

Marquette, which made 16 of 19 free throws, begins a three-game road trip at 7 p.m. Friday in Alpena.