Inman tourney leaves Warrior basketball teams with similar 1-3 records heading into league play
Sports reporter
After losing five of six games at the Inman tournament this past week, Marion High School basketball teams both sit at 1-3 on the season.
Games against league foes Halstead and Haven this week are almost must-wins just four games into the season.
Although Mid-Central Activities Association does not count these two games toward league standings, they are important for both the girls' and boys' teams.
When MHS faces the two later in the season, they will count in the standings.
For now, boys' coach Rex Ostmeyer and girls' coach Daryl Enos are focusing on getting back on track after the slow starts. The boys fell to Inman, Garden Plain, and St. John, while the girls defeated Inman and lost to the other two.
"We're just going to have to start understanding game situations," Ostmeyer said.
That could sum up the entire tournament for the Warriors. They lost three games, despite having a chance to win all of them. One or more lapses in each game, gave the other team a victory.
"We were as good as any team there," Ostmeyer said. "We just kept finding a way in each game to shoot ourselves in the foot."
The 72-61 loss to Garden Plain in the second game was a perfect example. Leading 27-26 with just three minutes until halftime, Marion surrendered eight straight points to trail by seven at the half. It then gave up five straight to start the third quarter, in all a 13-0 Garden Plain run.
The girls' team, who defeated Inman 52-42 in the first game, lost its final two after hanging around in both contests.
Senior Toni Gordon scored all of the Warriors' 15 points in the second quarter of the Garden Plain game. Her put-back with just more than three minutes left in the half cut the Owls' lead to 25-22. But the formerly number one ranked team in 2A scored the last six points of the half, increasing its lead to 31-22. Marion never recovered, falling 66-54.
In the final game against St. John, the girls led 9-2 in the first quarter, but lost the lead by halftime, and the game 49-39. Untimeley turnovers and incorrect rotations on the press contributed to losing the leads.
"I felt like all those games were winable," Enos said. "You start adding the little things up and all of a sudden you're down."
Despite the losses, both teams have been getting good individual performances.
Junior Jason Hett had his second 25-point game of the season against St. John, and averaged 17 points and five rebounds in the tournament.
Senior Toni Gordon had 21 points in the Garden Plain game, and senior point guard Megan Hudson had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds against St. John.
Senior Allie Maddox and junior Travis Hett led the teams behind the arc.
Enos said he wants his team intensity to keep going up.
"Pressure pays off," he said. "That's the kind of ball I want to play and no other."
If there is a time during the season to be down, it's early. Both Ostmeyer and Enos know if their teams get hot once league play starts, that's all that matters.
Now that league play is upon them, both teams must turn it up a notch, and the coaches know they are capable of doing so.
"One thing that was positive for us this past week was we kept fighting every game until the end," Ostmeyer said.
That real fight begins this week.
