Staff writer
The Marion Lady Warriors made it to a tournament championship game for the second time this season, but again could not place first Saturday at the Centre Cougar Classic.
After defeating Wakefield Jan. 21, the girls won Friday against Rural Vista, then lost Saturday to Centre.
“We’re disappointed in the outcome,” coach Kelly Robson said. “We knew Centre was a good team and they were going to shoot it well.”
Robson said he was pleased with how his team handled Centre’s full-court press early on, considering the Warriors’ performance Friday.
“They found out early on that wasn’t going to work, but it was working against other teams,” Robson said. “The night before, we turned it over against a lesser press, but tonight it was that much better.”
Down 12-9 at the beginning of the second quarter, Katey Ehrlich made a 3-pointer to tie the game, but an 8-0 Centre run ended the Warriors’ momentum. Centre led 23-16 at halftime.
Despite never holding a lead during the game, Marion played close with the Cougars until the beginning of the second half.
“I went to a zone out of halftime, which was dumb,” Robson said.
The Cougars made two threes in the first minute of the third quarter, and the Warriors never rebounded. Megan Richmond made a three shortly after, but the Cougars outscored Marion 6-2 the rest of the quarter to lead 36-22.
The teams played too evenly in the fourth for the Warriors to make a comeback attempt, and the Warriors lost 50-36. Robson said his team played hard, even after falling behind by 20 at one point.
He also applauded the team’s improvement, regarding a senior class that has not made it to many tournament finals.
“I hope they get a chance to get away for a minute and look at that and realize that was a really good thing for our team,” he said.
Scoring
Kelli Hess, 7; Kirsten Hansen, 4; Kaelyn Thierolf, 2; Bailey Robson, 10; Ehrlich, 5; Julia Hall, 2; Richmond, 6.
Rural Vista
The Lady Warriors fell behind 10-0 early against Rural Vista in the second round of the Cougar Classic, trailing 12-4 at the end of the first quarter.
Down 17-6 in the second, Marion used defensive pressure to create turnovers and build a 9-3 run in the last two minutes of the half. Bailey Robson scored five points during that stretch, and the Lady Warriors trailed 20-17 at halftime.
Marion continued to pressure Rural Vista into mistakes in the second half, taking a 29-24 lead into the fourth quarter. The Warriors made free throws late to keep control of the game, winning 36-28. Ehrlich was named to the all-tournament team.
Scoring
Ehrlich, 11; Hansen, 5; Robson, 5; Hall, 8; Hess, 3; Richmond, 2; Thierolf, 2.