Poor shooting results in two losses for Warriors
Sports reporter
It was a tough week for Marion High School boys' basketball team after dropping two games to league foes Halstead and Haven.
The losses give MHS a 1-5 record, but the Warriors remain 0-0 in the Mid-Central Activities Association.
They will resume play Jan. 6 when they play host to Hoisington, the first league game of the season.
In the Halstead game Dec. 13 the Warriors could not get a shot to fall early, and didn't find the scoreboard until Jason Hett's layup with one minute, 20 seconds to play in the first quarter.
Heading into the second quarter, MHS trailed the Blue Dragons 12-2.
Marion hung with Halstead in the second, but still was outscored 14-13 in the period.
Despite shooting only 43 percent in the half, including 0-7 from three-point range, the Warriors were down just 26-15.
A Blue Dragon three-pointer to open the third quarter gave Halstead a 14-point lead and all the momentum it would need.
The Warriors did get to within eight after an Emmanuel Jackson steal led to a layup, but it was as close as they would get. Halstead would go on to win 51-39.
Hett was the only Warrior in double-figures with 11 points and seven rebounds. Jackson contributed six points and two steals, and Josh Kelsey had five points and five rebounds.
"Our confidence is really shaken right now," head coach Rex Ostmeyer said. "I don't think we are playing with the level of urgency from the beginning of the game to the end like we need to,"
On Friday at Haven MHS started slow again with only six first-quarter points, but it yielded only seven on defense.
Haven pulled away more each quarter, outscoring Marion 14-9 and 13-7 in the second and third quarters.
Trailing 34-22 heading into the fourth, the Warriors outscored Haven 18-16, but it wasn't enough, as they fell, 50-40.
Isaiah Barfield was too much for the Warriors to handle. The junior had 22 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
Hett had 18 points and eight rebounds to pace Marion, and Jackson had 12 points and three rebounds. Calvin Jeffrey had a team-high five assists and now leads the team with 20 on the season.
MHS shot 14-55 from the field, and 4-10 from the free throw line.
The Warriors scored more points in both fourth quarters combined, than they did in the first three quarters of both games.
"It is almost as if we need to dig ourselves a hole and then we respond," Ostmeyer said. "But the hole has been too big."
Ostmeyer knows his team can respond after the break, and has been doing some good things so far this season.
"Defensively we have been OK," he said. "We just need some more confidence and rhythm on the offensive end."
After the home game against Hoisington, the Warriors travel to Wichita to take on Collegiate.
