Staff writer
The Marion High School boys basketball team led early in the third quarter Tuesday after Jacob Harper canned a 3-pointer to put the Warriors up 27-26.
Sedgwick responded with two layups to regain the advantage 30-27.
The Warriors would not score again until Dillon Richmond hit two free throws late in the frame. The Cardinals went on a 10-2 run to end the quarter, outscoring Marion 16-5.
Sedgwick won the game, 61-36.
Bench player Levi Vogt developed a hot hand in the third. He nailed two 15-foot jump shots from around the elbow and scored a layup on a fast break. Vogt’s 2 points before halftime ballooned to 14 after four quarters.
With Vogt and point guard Elliot Money shooting well from the outside, the Warriors abandoned their zone defense which had held the Cardinals to 34.6 percent shooting in the first half.
In the fourth quarter, the flood gates opened for Sedgwick. The Cardinals poured in 21 points in the final frame, mostly off layups, put backs from offensive rebounds, and open jump shots. Eight Sedgwick players scored in the game; Money, 13 points, and Thompson, 14, joined Vogt in double digits. The Cardinals shot 58.1 percent in the second half, 48.2 for the game.
The reason the Cardinals maintained a slender lead in the first half — they were up 24-22 at half and the two teams traded 1- and 2-point leads — was offensive rebounding. Sedgwick compiled 14 offensive boards and 38 total rebounds. Marion only grabbed 23 boards in comparison. Dillon Richmond was the Warriors top rebounder with 5 boards.
Jordan Hett was the only Warrior in double figures with 14 points; the next highest scorer was Jacob Harper with 6. Seven Warriors recorded at least a point. Marion shot 27.1 percent from the floor in the loss.
Warriors defeat Bulldogs, 46-33
The Marion High School boys basketball team defeated Bennington Friday in Bennington, 46-33.
Harper led the Warriors in scoring with a barrage of outside shooting, on his way to 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Hett was also in double figures with 11 points. Coach Jeff McMillin said Hett was more of a distributor Friday.
“We sat him more than we usually do because he was coming off a sickness,” McMillin added.
The Warriors also outrebounded Bennington and committed fewer than 13 turnovers.
McMillin said active defense was the key to the Warriors’ victory. He spotlighted Scott Jones and Colin Eurit whose tandem post defense held Bennington’s best forward scorer to 2 points.
“It’s definitely the effort I want to see,” McMillin said.
The leadership displayed by many of the Warriors Friday was also a team characteristic McMillin hoped would emerge.
“I took a look at their faces, they were saying, ‘We’re going to go out and give that effort,’” McMillin said. “That leadership was there for a full 32 minutes.”