Lady Warriors win with big second half
Sports reporter
Trailing 23-22 at halftime in the season opener Friday, Marion High School girls' basketball coach Daryl Enos said all he told his girls was make sure there are rebounders under the basket when they shoot.
It must have worked.
Marion outscored Chase County 18-3 in the third quarter en route to a 57-33 victory against the Bulldogs.
"I thought our diamond press looked pretty good," Enos said.
That could be a hard point to argue considering Marion forced four turnovers before Chase County shot the ball once.
On the first play of the game junior guard Allie Maddox knocked the ball away from a Chase County player, sprinted down court, and caught a pass for an easy lay-up.
Maddox, who is coming off knee surgery, scored a game-high 15 points and hit the deck a few times, testing the injured knee.
"She popped up, gritted her teeth and went on about her business," Enos said. "So I was pretty happy about that."
Maddox was a big part of the third quarter blowout, scoring nine points. She had help though, as junior Toni Gordon poured in 12 points, and senior Sarah Williams added seven.
It looked like Marion would cruise to an easy victory early, after forcing four straight turnovers, and jumping to a 7-3 lead after a three-pointer by senior Leann Thomas.
Chase County countered in the second, outscoring Marion 14-8, to claim the one-point halftime lead.
"We kind of made a adjustments in the second half," Enos said.
The main adjustment, Enos said, was putting more pressure on point guard Jordan Mann.
Mann had trouble dribbling out of the double team, and found her passes ending up in the hands of Warrior players more often than her teammates.
After the victory Enos said the hardest part was deciding who to play.
"It's a little different for me to play 12 girls in one game," he said.
According to Enos they all have a shot at playing time, and the lineup could change from game to game.
After any game, especially the season-opener, there can be room for improvement. For now Enos will just take the victory.
"I'm pretty happy with their play really," he said.
That needs to carry over to this week as the Warriors take part in the Inman tournament.
Marion played Tuesday at home against Burrton, and will resume play Thursday against St. John at Inman.
The tournament wraps up Friday when Marion plays Inman on the road.
