Warriors show fight in close loss to Lions
Williams goes for 14 points and nine rebounds in loss
Sports reporter
If there is ever such thing as a good loss, this might have been it for the Marion Warriors girls' basketball team.
Trailing by 14 points at halftime Friday night, Marion charged back to get within three, but ultimately fell at Lyons, 68-59.
Senior Sarah Williams led the Warriors (1-6 Mid-Central Activities Association, and 6-10 overall) with 14 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.
"I saw some things I liked tonight," Warrior head coach Daryl Enos said. "We had three girls in double figures."
But he also saw some things he couldn't have liked.
Such as Lyons' Andrea Leiker scoring 30 points, snaring 11 rebounds, and dishing out seven assists. And a second quarter score of Lyons 23, Marion 11.
"I wish we could have won the darn thing," Enos said. "But I think the girls are starting to realize how much effort they have to put out each night."
The game started well for Marion as they jumped ahead 6-3 behind baskets from Williams, and juniors Allie Maddox and Megan Hudson.
By the end of the first quarter Lyons had claimed a 14-12 lead. The lead began to stretch in the second quarter, as the Lions roared out of the gate with an 11-2 run.
Leiker took over the first half, scoring 21 of her game-high 30 points in the first 16 minutes, helping the Lions to a 37-23 halftime-lead.
Williams had six points in the first half, and senior Leann Thomas scored nine of her 11 in the first two quarters.
The teams traded points the first part of the third quarter as Marion trailed 43-31.
A three-pointer by Maddox later in the quarter trimmed the lead to 45-36, and the Warriors would trail by nine heading into the final frame, 51-42.
The fourth quarter brought the Warrior charge.
Junior Toni Gordon scored the first two baskets of the quarter for the Warriors, and the lead was trimmed to 53-46.
Again the teams traded baskets until Marion used a 7-2 run to cut a 59-51 Lyons advantage down to a 61-58 Warrior deficit.
It was as close as they would get.
Leiker hit two free throws on the next possession, to keep Marion at bay, and Lyons played strong defense the rest of the way to claim the nine-point victory.
"I wasn't disappointed in their play," Enos said. "Other than letting a girl score [21] points in a half, they played pretty well."
In fact it may have been the best all-around offensive game of the year for the Warriors. Enos noted they scored double figures in every quarter and shot 46.7 percent in the second half.
Williams led with 14 points, Thomas had 11 before fouling out in the fourth, and Hudson added 10 points.
Maddox scored nine points, including the team's only three-point basket, and Gordon added five points and six rebounds.
As a team the Warriors grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, and committed only 15 turnovers, compared to Lyons' 10 offensive rebounds and 22 turnovers.
"The girls are really tired of losing," Enos said. "They still want to accomplish something before the season is over."
That's not just winning the few last games for respect - it's coming out of regionals and heading to Hutchinson for the state tournament.
"We still want to get out to Hutch," Enos said.
This week
The Warriors have three games this week, two at home, because of a snowed out game earlier in the month.
Marion played host to Halstead last night, and will travel Friday to play Haven. Saturday they will play Hesston at 6 p.m. at home in a makeup game. The final game of the regular season will be Tuesday at home against Sterling.
