MHS boys hoops score wins at Inman
If one subscribes to the adage "Two out of three ain't bad," then claiming two wins in three games of last week's Inman invitational basketball tournament, against state-ranked foes, was a good outing for the Marion Warrior boys' varsity basketball squad.
Marion 53, Inman 59
The Warriors opened tournament action at home Dec. 5, against the Inman Teutons, tabbed as the second-best Class 2A team in the Kansas Coaches Association preseason rankings.
Both teams had trouble generating points early in the game. Marion canned just three of nine shots in the first quarter, and Inman was equally ineffective, leading to an 8-8 tie at the end of the first stanza.
Marion went scoreless the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter, as the Teutons forged a 15-8 lead, but a Travis Hett trey sparked a run that vaulted Marion to a 20-19 advantage at the 2:58 mark.
It would be the last lead Marion would see. Teuton Garrett England's layup at 2:17 put Inman back in front, and the Teutons took a four-point lead to the locker room, 30-26.
With just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors were still within four, 40-36. A nine-point Inman blitz, capped by an England three-pointer as time expired, left the stunned Warriors staring at a 13-point deficit, 49-36.
Marion trimmed the deficit to three points twice in the fourth quarter, but any realistic hopes of catching the Teutons likely disappeared when first Travis Hett, then Jason Hett, two of the top three Warrior scorers, fouled out in the final two minutes.
Travis Hett led all scorers with 23, while Lance Pfannenstiel dropped in 17 points to pace Inman. Jason Hett and Calvin Jeffrey added 14 points each for the Warriors.
Marion 63, St. John 45
The Warriors quickly put the Inman loss behind them Thursday when they faced off against the St. John Tigers in Inman.
The KCA preseason poll had the Tigers ranked sixth in Class 2A.
Calvin Jeffrey ignited the Marion offense by scoring three straight Warrior goals, including a three-pointer, as Marion broke out to a 9-3 lead.
Intense defensive pressure by the Warriors forced seven Tiger turnovers in the first quarter, while Marion's 46.7 percent shooting resulted in a 15-8 bulge at the break.
Jason Hett scored five points on consecutive possessions, as Marion extended its lead to 22-11, with three minutes elapsed in the second quarter. Warrior defenders continued to clamp down on Tiger shooters, allowing St. John to hit only 27 percent of its shots in the first half.
Travis Hett and Jeffrey combined for eight points in a late run that pushed the Warrior lead to 30-15 at halftime.
Marion returned from the intermission sluggish on offense, collecting just two baskets in the first five minutes of the third quarter. St. John made slight headway against the Warriors, cutting the lead to 12, 34-22, at the 3:41 mark.
Justin Heidebrecht then stepped into the Warrior scoring void, connecting on two three-point shots in less than a minute, to stretch the lead to 40-24. Travis Hett, Emmanuel Jackson, and Jeffrey scored baskets in the final 90 seconds of the quarter to boost the Warrior advantage to 18, 46-28.
The Tigers made a more concerted run at the Warriors in the fourth quarter, ripping off 14 points in the first three minutes, and cutting Marion's lead to single digits, 50-42, at 5:08 remaining.
St. John could come no closer, as the Warriors shut the Tigers out of the scoring column until they had built a 21-point margin, 63-42, with just 42 seconds left in the game. Four Warriors contributed to the scoring outburst.
Marion hit 51 percent of its shots for the game, while limiting St. John to only 33 percent. The Warriors made four of eight from three-point range, and shot 75 percent from the free-throw line.
Jeffrey led the Warriors in scoring with 15, followed by Travis Hett with 14, and Heidebrecht with 12.
St. John came out on top in the battle for rebounds. The Warriors were outrebounded by St. John, 32-30, and allowed the Tigers 15 offensive rebounds.
Marion 65, Garden Plain 49
The trend of slow-starting quarters continued Friday, when the Warriors matched up against Garden Plain — a dangerous proposition considering the Owls were a preseason 10th place pick in Class 3A by the coaches.
The Warriors looked out of sync at the outset of the game, finding themselves down 9-2 after only two minutes.
Marion head coach Rex Ostmeyer called for a 30-second time-out at the 5:32 mark to settle his squad down, and the move paid immediate dividends, particularly on the defensive end.
For the next eight-and-a-half minutes, the equivalent of over one quarter of play, Warrior defenders harassed the Owls so thoroughly that Garden Plain could only score one basket.
Marion chipped away at the Owl lead with three-pointers by Jackson and Travis Hett, tying the score 11-11 on a Hett free throw at 1:52.
When Luke Gordon scored an inside basket 40 seconds later, he gave the Warriors a lead they would never relinquish.
Carrying an 18-11 advantage into the second quarter, the Warriors continued their defensive dominance, while continuing to extend their lead.
Marion led by as many as 18 points, as five Warriors contributed scoring in building a 38-23 halftime edge.
The Warriors were never seriously threatened in the second half, extending their lead to as many as 21 points. Two meaningless Owl baskets in the final two minutes narrowed the gap to the final score of 65-49.
Garden Plain made just 20 of 57 shots, 35 percent, and shot a woeful 14 percent from the charity stripe.
The Warriors hit 46 percent from the field, and 43 percent of their free throws.
Marion had its third different leading scorer for the tournament, with Jason Hett accounting for 21 points. Travis Hett scored 15, and Jeffrey contributed 13.
The Warriors traveled to Lyons Tuesday to take on the Lions, and return home for a Friday tilt against Smoky Valley at Marion High School Gymnasium.
