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The Austin boys basketball team couldn’t keep up on the battle for possession as the Packers dropped their home opener to Rochester John Marshall 80-42 in Packer Gym Thursday.

The Rockets (2-0 overall) jumped out to an 18-5 lead to open the game and Austin never got within double digits the rest of the way. JM pounded the boards and ran the court as they used their size and athleticism to create a flurry of highlight plays.

“Today it was exposed that we need to be more physical than these guys have ever played before,” Austin head coach Jamaal Gibson said. “Obviously in any sport, the higher the level, the more physical the game is. Basketball is no different.”

Austin junior J’dan Stevens finished with nine points and seven rebounds and Banyaan Omot scored 13 points.

“When J’dan wants to, he does such a good job of locating the ball and going to get it. He’s got decent bounce for his size, but it’s more about him locating the basketball and getting it at its highest point,” Gibson said. “I’m not saying he shouldn’t ever be our leading rebounder, but tonight shouldn’t have been one of those nights. At the end of the day, they had more offensive rebounds than we had defensive rebounds and that can never happen. You’re never going to win basketball games that way. We need more out of our big guys.”

Austin 20  22  –  42

JM 41  39  –  80

Austin scoring: Banyaan Omot, 13; J’dan Stevens, 9; Cole Hebrink, 8; Garlo Gee, 5; Boden Bergstrom, 3; Mady Kwot, 2; Xavien Severin, 2