Warriors defeat Eureka 61-27
Staff writer
One play epitomized the night for the Marion High School boys basketball team on Monday.
Isaac Hett received the ball on a fast break in the middle of the Eureka lane. He looked poised to go up strong for a layup and take on the Eureka defender, his knees already bending for flight, but he instead dished the ball to a slashing Jordan Versch who finished with a layup for an uncontested basket.
If Hett would have gone for the score himself, no one could have faulted him — it seemed like the open play — but Hett unselfishly made the extra pass that led directly to points.
Marion dispatched Eureka 61-27 in their first-round game of the Marion Classic. The Warriors played suffocating man-to-man defense, created and finished several fast break opportunities, and ran their half-court offense to precision.
Hett and Eric Vogel starred in the victory. Both Marion post players fronted their Eureka counterparts on defense, creating three steals. Hett and Vogel were the catalysts for Marion’s transition game, gathering steals and rebounds to push the Warrior attack.
Hett found himself leading the break on a few occasions; he would grab a steal or rebound and immediately sprint up the middle of the floor. The plays would often finish with Wil Case ending up with the ball.
“Seeing the open floor in front of him is like dangling a carrot in front of his face,” Marion head coach Jeff McMillan said of Case.
Hett and Vogel were also the leading beneficiaries of an efficient Warrior offense. Marion guards, whether it was Drew Maddox, Jordan Hett, or Jordan Versch, would split the two guards at the top of the Cyclone 2-3 zone, force the Eureka forwards to contest a possible shot, and then deftly pass to Vogel or Hett who were cutting behind the defenders along the baseline. These plays led directly to points or trips to the free-throw stripe.
Vogel scored a game-high 20 points and Hett was just behind him with 13. Vogel was also the game’s leading rebounder with nine boards.
“He never gives up on a play,” McMillan said of Vogel. “The harder you work the luckier you get.”
Hard work seemed to be as contagious as H1N1 in Marion; every player was rushing up the floor to join the break and playing hard on defense. The work definitely paid off: the warriors shot a higher field goal percentage — 57 percent — and free throw percentage — 88 percent — than they did in any game last year.
“I could feel that it was right from the day I walked in,” McMillan said of the attitude of this year’s team. “This team worked harder in this game than in any game last year.”
Hett echoed his second-year coach’s comments.
“This year, the upperclassmen came in knowing what we were going to do,” he said. “We want to win a lot more than we did last year.”
Last modified Dec. 10, 2009