Staff writer
The Marion High School boys basketball team won its second game Tuesday against Elyria in the opening round of the Cougar Classic at Center, 57-47.
“It feels great,” guard Mikael Antoszyk said of the win. “We’ve been on a losing streak for over a month now.”
Not only did the Warriors win, they scored their most points in a game this season and shot 43.5 percent from the floor. The scoring outburst is improbable enough from a team that shot under 20 percent against Hillsboro before Christmas Break, but Marion also started the game against Elyria with a 4-point quarter.
“We underestimated them,” Antoszyk explained. “I think because we were a 3A team going into a 1A tournament we got bigheaded.”
The Marion turned on the jets in the second quarter. Starting with a Jordan Hett dish to Dillon Richmond cutting through the lane, the Warriors went on a 15-point scoring binge. Jordan Versch, Richmond, and Antoszyk all hit 3-pointers. Versch also had a breakaway layup. Purkeypile scored on a put-back and hit a free throw after the foul. All together, it was a 16-point quarter for the Warriors, the most they had scored in any period all season.
Marion was not finished. The Warriors scored 22 points in the third quarter, punctuated by four-consecutive possessions of made 3-pointers. Antoszyk hit the first two to culminate his field-goal scoring. He finished the game with a team-high 12 points, scoring from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
“I’m sure he’s shot a lot of shots in that gym,” coach Jeff McMillin said of the former Centre junior varsity player.
Jacob Harper sank the final two treys, the latter of which forced Elyria to take a timeout and sent the Warrior faithful into a frenzy. He scored 8 points in the game.
The Warrior offense sprang to life with quick passes throughout the third quarter. Jordan Hett recorded 6 helpers and Antoszyk had 3. Forward Scott Jones would not let the guards have all the passing glory. He submitted a dish across the lane for an easy Richmond layup.
“He almost drives looking to pass,” McMillin said of Jones. “It’s nice to have guys like that.”
Nine different Warriors scored in the game. Versch had 10 points while fellow senior Richmond scored 9. Purkeypile scored 7 points. Jordan Hett added 4 points.
While they were still outrebounded, the Warriors culminated the total team performance on the defensive end. Purkeypile grabbed 9 rebounds while Versch had 7. Harper had 6 thefts while Antoszyk record 4 steals.
“I was happy with a lot of things,” McMillin said.
However, the shooting was the biggest improvement. The Warriors shot 57 percent in the second half; their game shooting percentage would be much closer to 50 percent had they not shot so poorly in the first quarter.
“We’re on the right path now,” Antoszyk said. “We’re tired of losing.”