Sports editor
Two Warrior teams claimed the first Marion Classic championships Saturday at the USD 408 Sports and Aquatics Center. Unfortunately, for Marion High School, it was the Warriors of Berean Academy.
Both the Marion boys’ and girls’ teams fell in the final round at the hands of the private school.
Runner-up plaques were handed out to the MHS squads after Berean dumped the boys, 54-37, and edged the girls, 50-45.
After first-round victories Dec. 8 against Peabody-Burns, both teams cruised in the semifinals.
The boys knocked off Belle Plaine, 50-24, and the girls crushed Eureka, 71-26.
Eric Vogel led the boys’ team with 11 points and eight rebounds, as 10 Warriors were on the scoreboard.
Drew Maddox had four assists and no turnovers, and Luke Gordon chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds.
MHS led comfortably at the half, 30-17, and used an 11-0 third quarter to put the game away.
The MHS girls stuffed the stat sheet with a 45-point victory in round two against the Tornadoes of Eureka.
Junior Julia Zeiner had 22 points, six assists, and four steals, while Kristen Steinborn had 15 points and Kayley Heerey scored 14.
For the tournament, Zeiner averaged 19 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.
The girls had 22 assists on 32 baskets in game two, as Lindsay Hett chipped in five and Heerey had four.
EHS never threatened Marion after trailing 17-9 after the first quarter.
Despite both MHS teams winning their first two games, Berean Academy was not going to be intimidated.
The boys came in ranked in the top-five in the state at the 2A level, and girls’ head coach Kristin Wiebe brought a 2007 2A state championship, and 71-6 career record into the game.
She also had Janelle Rust, who averaged 21.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game during the classic.
Rust scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the championship game.
Rust, Kayla Wilgers, and Kayla Eilert combined for 42 points, 19 rebounds, and all seven of the team’s assists.
It was Heerey and Zeiner who did most of the scoring for Marion, with 17 and 15 respectively.
Hett had six points to go along with 12 rebounds and five steals.
The two teams battled back and forth with MHS leading 14-13 at the end of one, and 26-21 at the half.
However, Berean used a 13-7 third quarter to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Berean trio went to the basket hard in the fourth quarter, drawing fouls on the Warriors, using that to keep a two- to four-point edge most of the quarter.
The three hit 17-of-21 free throws during the game.
Every time Marion would cut Berean’s four-point lead to two, one of the three would answer with a shot.
Missed shots from Marion and free throws from Berean put the game away in the final minute.
The boys’ game did not come down to the final minute, as Berean began to run away with the lead in the third quarter.
Trailing 25-22 at the half, Marion scored just six points in the third quarter to trail, 39-28.
It looked like Marion would make it a game after using an 8-0 run in the second quarter to take a 20-17 lead.
Mitchell Leppke had back-to-back three-pointers, and Elliot Hett hit two free throws for the lead.
However, a 21-8 run gave Berean its third-quarter lead.
A nine-point fourth quarter was not enough for a comeback.
“I think we have a long way to go, but I saw a bunch of people making a good effort,” MHS boys’ coach Jeff McMillin said.
McMillin knew early in the season his team would make some mistakes, but he was pleased with the play of Leppke and Maddox at the point guard position in games two and three.
He told them to make good decisions — and they did.
After the duo combined for three assists and five turnovers in game one of the tournament, they had four assists and just three turnovers in games two and three.
While the team was making better decisions, their shots still were not going in.
MHS was just 11-of-48 (22.9 percent) from the field.
“Our program isn’t where we want it to be, but we will continue to get better,” McMillin said.
Vogel was arguably the team’s best player in the tournament, averaging 9.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games.
Gordon averaged 8.3 and 6.0, Isaac Hett 8.3 and 3.3, and Elliot Hett 7.7 and 3.0.
Heerey averaged 15.3 points for the girls’ team, and connected on eight three-pointers in the three games, while Hett scored 7.0 points per game to go along with 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest.
Both squads were scheduled to play at Hesston Tuesday, but the games were postponed because of weather.
The final game for MHS before the holiday break will be Friday at home against Moundridge.