Staff writer
The Marion High School boys basketball team fell to Halstead Friday night, 44-39.
The Dragons are the third-ranked team in 3A with a 13-2 record, and Wichita Collegiate, which toppled the Warriors Tuesday, is the top-ranked team.
The loss marks the Warriors’ third-consecutive defeat and their fifth loss by a margin of 5 points or less on the season. Their record now stands at 5-9.
“Hopefully this will carry over,” Head Coach Jeff McMillin said. “We deserved to win tonight. The season is a roller coaster: you have to move with the highs and the lows.”
The difference in the game against Halstead came at the free-throw line. The Warriors shot 5-of-12 from the charity stripe, while Halstead was 12-for-17.
With 14.6 seconds left in the game, the Warriors had shored up the score to 42-39 after baskets by Isaac Hett and Mitch Cady. The Dragons made their free throws after a Marion foul to end the game.
“They stepped up and hit their free throws. That’s what good teams do,” McMillin said.
The Warriors were also lackluster from beyond the 3-point arc. The Warriors were 0-for-12 from downtown.
“Our shots were going in and out,” Marion guard Wil Case said. “Nothing you can do about that.”
Isaac Hett was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Warriors with 14 points 10 rebounds. Eric Vogel also contributed 13 points and five rebounds.
Marion Boys Box Scores
Name FG FT PTS PF R S A
*Case 3/11 0/1 6 3 2 0 0
*Maddox 0/1 0/0 0 0 3 1 0
J. Hett 0/5 0/0 0 0 1 1 0
Cady 2/2 0/2 4 4 3 1 2
*Versch 1/4 0/0 2 4 5 1 1
*I. Hett 6/8 2/3 14 0 10 0 1
*Vogel 5/11 3/6 13 5 5 3 1
Richmond 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
Jones 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
Purkeypile 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
Harper 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
Halstead....................................................44 Marion.......................................................39