Sports editor
In a near must-win game Friday, the Marion High School girls’ basketball team escaped with a 51-47 victory at Halstead.
The 9-7 Warriors evened their record with the Dragons, who will compete in the Marion 3A sub-state with MHS early next month.
The victory moved Marion to 5-2 in the MCAA, but was more important in the sub-state standings. Hillsboro, which is also in Marion’s league and sub-state, sits at 8-6.
In a game that featured 48 combined fouls and saw seven players foul out, the Warriors held on for the four-point victory.
MHS was led by Lindsay Hett who had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Julia Zeiner who scored 15 points in 16 foul-plagued minutes.
MHS head coach Randy Savage said his team was nowhere near perfect, but it is always nice to come away with a victory.
“That’s just one of those games where I just need to say ‘We didn’t do everything right, but we did enough right. You can’t win every game with everything clicking’.”
MHS jumped ahead 7-2 but Zeiner, the team’s leading scorer, picked up her second foul less than two minutes into the game.
With the junior on the bench, the Dragons pulled ahead, 14-11, after the first quarter, and held on the lead at halftime, 28-24.
The Warriors came out strong in the second half, and took the lead in the first few minutes.
“We came out and our press clicked for us,” Savage said.
Eight minutes later the Warriors used a 17-5 third quarter to lead 41-32 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Dragons held close as Zeiner, Bridget Lundy, Whitney Gordon, and Kristen Steinborn all eventually fouled out. The five combined for 25 points, and 21 rebounds.
However, Emily Gundy, Alexi Bohling, and Kirsten Sooter fouled out for the Dragons. That trio combined for 24 points and 15 rebounds.
The game that featured 60 free-throw attempts, eventually went to Marion who had two reserves on the court at the final buzzer, and a third that played late in the game.
Danae Edwards, Anna Laurin, and Kristen Geis didn’t light up the scoreboard with a combined one point and one rebound, but what was impressive to Savage was the fact the trio combined for nine minutes and just one turnover.
“They were out there in crunch time,” the second-year coach said. “That’s what we need out of them. You can’t underestimate that.”
Other contributions noticed by Savage were those from his starters.
Despite shooting just 1-of-12 from the floor, Kayley Heerey made up for it in other categories. The team’s second-leading scorer had just five points but also contributed eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal.
Whitney Gordon shot just 2-of-8, but her game and career-high 13 rebounds helped MHS out-rebound HHS, 43-35.
“That’s what good basketball players do,” Savage said of Heerey and Gordon. “They play defense and rebound if they are off on offense.”
Now that the Warriors escaped with a victory, five games remain on the schedule. Home match-ups with Sterling, Nickerson, and Smoky Valley are combined with road contests at Hillsboro and Nickerson.
The Warriors must claim a top-four seed in the sub-state tournament to play at home in the first round. Their tournament is comprised of seven teams with the top seed getting a bye into the semifinals.
Last year MHS was 10-10 and qualified as the four seed. They eventually defeated Hillsboro, 67-55.
Collegiate
The Warriors fell Feb. 3 to Collegiate, 70-45.
MHS was in the game in the first half, trailing 39-29, at the break. However, a 26-6 third quarter for Collegiate did-in the Warriors.
Zeiner was the team’s top-scorer with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Hett had 11 points and five rebounds.
Ashia Woods led Collegiate with 24 points, six rebounds, and 10 steals.