Staff writer
The Marion High School boys basketball team came back from a 21-10 deficit at the end of the first quarter to take a 47-45 lead with 5 minutes, 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. However, they lost the game, 58-52, Tuesday against Sterling in the first round of sub-state.
Mikael Antoszyk hit the go-ahead 3-pointer at the top of the key. Jacob Harper blocked a Sterling layup on the other end of the floor, which eventually led to Jordan Versch driving a lay-in to put Marion up, 49-45.
Harper and Jordan Hett had spurred the Warrior offense with drives throughout the second half, but Sterling defenders would not let either Warrior free to receive the ball for the last three Warrior possessions of the game. A missed shot eventually led Versch to picking up his fifth foul.
The Warriors missed another shot and after a Marion foul, Trea Lott struck again with a layup on an inbounds pass despite a foul by Dane Purkeypile. Lott missed the foul shot but Sterling grabbed the rebound and hit two free throws after a Marion foul.
Suddenly, a 4-point lead was now a 2-point Sterling advantage. After Harper hit the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw attempt, Humphreys nailed a 3 to put the Black Bears up, 54-50.
Regaining the ball, Dillon Richmond hit two free throws with 40.4 seconds remaining. Humphreys weaved his way through the subsequent Marion full-court pressure and passed the ball to Michael Gellerman who was quickly fouled. Gellerman missed the first shot of a one-and-one but the Warriors’ weakness in the first half — rebounding — was again the Warriors foible as Maxwell picked up the rebound and hit both free throws after a subsequent foul.
The Warriors allowed 11 offensive boards in the first half, but Sterling only grabbed 3 offensive rebounds in the second half. The difference was battling the Black Bears for position before going air born to catch the ball, McMillin said.
With 16.8 seconds left, Marion committed a travel and Sterling grabbed another rebound off a Sterling free-throw miss, with Sterling converting a lay-in to give Sterling a 58-52 win.
While he said his team was depressed after coming so close to knocking off the No. 2-seeded Black Bears, McMillin said the team’s comeback in the second half spoke to the effort he had from the 8-13 Warriors all season.
“They wanted to achieve (a win) and they came up short,” McMillin said. “They’re great, hard-working kids.”
Harper scored 16 points to lead the Warriors. He shot 4-for-7 from the field and sank 7-of-10 free throws. Dillon Richmond scored 10 and Hett and Versch were right behind with 9 points apiece. Versch was also the team’s leading rebounder with 6 boards.
The improvement the Warriors made on offense throughout the game — driving to the basket, looking for good shots, and setting good screens to get open baskets — were representative of the progress the team made throughout the season.
“One of the things I watch on film is who set good screens,” McMillin said. “We were catching the ball and they were still chasing us.”
“This year was a good step forward for us,” McMillin added.