Staff writer
The Marion High School boys basketball team carved up the Buffaloes of Republic County Saturday, 65-45, to take seventh place in the Hillsboro Trojan Classic.
Eric Vogel played like a shark among fish. He constantly attacked the Buffalo defense, ending the game with 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting. He was also the Warriors leading rebounder with seven boards.
Isaac Hett passed the ball with surgical precision. On two separate drives through the lane, Hett was able to wrap the ball around two Buffalo defenders to find an open man. Hett was also the Warriors second leading scorer with 16 points.
The Warriors were able to shake off two losses earlier in the week to shoot 51 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free-throw line.
However, for the third straight game, a Warrior player had to ride the pine late in the game after fouling out. Vogel was the victim on Saturday.
Thursday
After losing in the closing seconds to Riley County, Marion suffered another close defeat Thursday at the hands of their cross-county rivals, Hillsboro, 48-47.
The Warriors lost even though they outrebounded, won the turnover battle, and shot a better percentage from the charity stripe than Hillsboro. Marion actually made two more shots than the Trojans, but shot nine fewer free throws.
In the last two minutes of the game, Hillsboro led by two points, 44-42. Marion missed a shot on their possession and the Warriors quickly fouled Nathan Vogel. Marion was called for a technical foul on the play and the Trojans were awarded four free throws.
Nathan Vogel and Jarod Hamm missed all four free throws but Jesse Allen received the ball on the inbound pass and was subsequently fouled. Allen would not succumb to the same fate as his teammates, and sunk his free throws with aplomb, giving the Trojans a 48-42 advantage.
Jordan Hett was fouled on the ensuing Marion possession and made the score, 48-44. The Warriors stole the ball on the inbounds play and called a timeout. With three seconds left on the clock, Wil Case hit a 3-pointer, but Marion lost, 48-47.
Eric Vogel scored 16 points to lead the Warriors. Isaac and Jordan Hett trailed behind him with 11 points each.
Marion Boys’ Box Scores
Name FG FT PTS PF R S A
*Case 4/8 0/0 9 1 2 0 1
*Maddox 0/2 0/0 0 4 1 1 3
J. Hett 3/7 4/6 11 2 6 1 1
Cady 0/1 0/0 0 4 0 1 0
*Versch 0/0 0/0 0 1 2 0 1
*I. Hett 4/10 3/4 11 5 1 1 2
*Vogel 6/11 4/6 16 4 8 1 1
Richmond 0/1 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
Marion 47
Hillsboro 48
Marion Boys’ Box Scores
Name FG FT PTS PF R S A
*Case 2/5 4/4 8 3 1 1 1
*Maddox 0/4 0/0 0 1 1 2 0
J. Hett 1/3 5/6 7 1 4 1 2
Cady 1/3 6/10 8 3 1 1 0
*Versch 1/1 0/0 2 1 2 1 2
*I. Hett 5/10 6/10 16 4 6 4 3
*Vogel 9/11 2/5 20 5 7 3 0
Richmond 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
Jones 0/1 2/2 2 1 2 0 0
Purkeypile 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
Harper 1/1 0/0 2 0 0 0 0
Marion 65
Republic County 48