Marion boys overwhelm Council Grove by 26 points; girls edged, 33-32

Written by Katie Morford Thursday, 26 January 2012 21:52

The Marion boys overwhelmed Council Grove on the Warriors' home court tonight, 62-36, to improve to 6-6 overall. They rode a strong third quarter to victory, scoring 27 points in that period alone. The girls lost a hard-fought heartbreaker, 33-32, as the Braves sank a three-pointer in the final four seconds of the game. They stand at 1-11 for the season. 

Boys - Marion kicked off tonight with a bang as Jacob Harper sank a three-pointer 30 seconds in and scored seconds later off an assist from Mikael Antoszyk to give the Warriors a quick 5-2 lead. But Council Grove drained a three of their own to tie it up, tying the game once more before Jordan Hett made the layup on the steal with 10 seconds left to put Marion on top, 11-10, at the end of the quarter.

The Warriors pounded away in the second quarter, with Antoszyk scoring four points to help out Hett and Harper, who also had four each. Marion outscored the Braves, 12-8, to take a 23-18 lead at halftime.

If Marion looked strong in the first half, they were flaming hot out of the locker room. The Warriors scored five times from beyond the arc to help them put up 27 points in the third quarter and outscore Council Grove by 11 points. Hett started off the action with a three-pointer at 7:34, Harper sank a basket for three at 5:50 and Antoszyk swished one with five minutes left to make it 36-20. 

But Marion was not done yet. Hett scored again from beyond the arc at 2:10 to put the Warriors up by 20 points. Zac Robson and Wiley Lundy came off the bench in the last two minutes to score five points, including a basket from three-point range, to give Marion a 26-point lead, 50-24.

Scott Jones returned for the Warriors in the final quarter, after being benched most of the game for foul trouble, to start off the scoring action. Hett sank another three at 4:01 before the Warriors' depth came in for a chance to shine. And shine they did, with Lundy scored again inside before Grif Case sank a three-pointer with 45 seconds left to put an exclamation point on the win. 

Harper had 26 points, including six from three-point range, and Hett put up 17 points overall, including nine from beyond the arc, to round out the double digits.

Girls - The Warriors looked shaky out of the gate, allowing Council Grove to go up, 6-0, in the first three minutes of play time. But Katey Ehrlich nabbed the steal and drove down the court for the layup at 2:38. Whitney Gordon scored on the layup a minute later, Erin Meierhoff chipped in a free throw and Kaelyn Thierolf found the basket with 46 seconds left to give Marion a 7-6 lead. 

Gordon drained a three-pointer with four seconds remaining to put the Warriors on top, 10-6, at the end of the period. 

Council Grove came back to tie the game twice in the second quarter. But Marion did not fold, as they have been prone to do in the past, and rallied to lead at the break, 17-14, thanks to five points from Gordon in the quarter.

The Warriors struggled out of the locker room, allowing the Braves to outscore them, 8-2, in the first three minutes. But Megan Richmond scored two from the line at 4:48 and Gordon sank a basket from beyond the arc seconds later to get Marion back in the game with a 23-22 lead. 

Gordon scored again with 21 seconds remaining to make it 25-24 at the end of the third quarter.

She put up four points in the first 2:30 of the final period to give Marion a 29-25 lead. But Council Grove pulled themselves together to tie it, 29-29. Ehrlich scored off a Richmond assist to give the Warriors a 31-29 lead at 1:51. But the Braves sank a free throw to pull within one point. Meierhoff gave Marion two from the line to put them on top, 32-30. 

But with four seconds on the clock, Council Grove drained a three-pointer to escape with the win.

Gordon had a big night, putting up 19 points for the Warriors, including six from three-point range.