Lady Warriors salvage seventh place at Classic
Sports reporter
Kayley Heerey said she loves pressure free throws.
Saturday she proved it.
The Marion High School sophomore swished two from the charity stripe with 11 seconds left against Republic County to give the Warriors a 56-55 lead.
After a Buffalo miss at the buzzer, MHS went on to win by the same score and take seventh place at the Hillsboro Trojan Classic.
Marion had previously lost to Riley County and Wamego before defeating the Buffaloes.
Heerey, who was 5-for-5 from the foul line and scored 14 points, has nailed more than 80 percent of her free-throw attempts this season.
"It was just a chance for me to prove I can shoot free throws well," Heerey said. "I was nervous, but I just knew I had to make them."
Warrior fans may have been nervous as well considering before she stepped to the line MHS had just blown a 31-11 halftime lead, and trailed by one. A three-point third quarter nearly doomed the Warriors.
"My golly if we could play a whole game, we'd be pretty good," MHS head coach Randy Savage said with a laugh.
He was mostly referring to the two-point second quarter in the team's second game of the tournament Friday against Wamego. MHS trailed the Red Raiders just 18-17 after the first quarter, but was outscored 20-2 in the second frame.
They eventually lost 60-44.
"They kind of lost interest — lost focus," Savage said about the third quarter in the Republic County game. "They thought they had it won."
Heerey agreed.
"We relaxed and let them back in the third quarter," she said.
The Buffaloes kept chipping into the lead with three-pointers, old-fashioned three-point plays, and by dominating the offensive boards. For the game they out-rebounded Marion on the offensive glass, 18-11.
Lindsay Hett's free throw with two seconds left pushed the lead to 34-30 at the end of the quarter after Republic County got as close at three points.
The first half though was dominated by the Warriors who shot 43 percent from the field, and held the Buffs to just four made field goals.
Hett led the way for Marion with 10 points and five rebounds in the half, including 2-2 from behind the three-point line.
She finished with a game-high 15 points. Julia Zeiner was the third Warrior in double figures with 12 points and four rebounds.
Amanda Richmond had five points, Kristen Steinborn and Bridget Lundy four, and Lauren Helmer added two.
Despite not scoring any points, senior Kimber Hardey contributed five rebounds, two steals, and one assist.
At 2-1 in league play and 6-8 overall, Heerey feels the team has improved because they play a more controlled game.
However, it was hard to play controlled in the Republic County game when 44 fouls were called on the two teams, including 19 in the third quarter.
The flow of the game became choppy with many stoppages, but Savage said that shouldn't matter.
"We've got to adjust to that," he said. "If you hack somebody three times and get called for it, you might not want to do it again."
Even so, MHS had no one foul out, and had seven girls on the court for at least 17 minutes.
The team's attention will turn back to league play Friday with a trip to Hillsboro to take on the Trojans.
"They are a tough team, but I think we can definitely do it," Heerey said. "We're going to have to play our best game."
Savage said he was looking forward to it as well.
"It's a rivalry, and that's a good thing," he said. "That makes it more fun to play."
Tip off is set for 6 p.m.
