Marion girls 7th, boys 6th at Trojan Classic

Written by Andrew Ottoson Saturday, 19 January 2008 18:58

The Marion High School girls took a 31-11 halftime lead, and ended up needing every inch of it to hold off Republic County. The Buffaloes used a 19-3 run in the third quarter to make a game of it, and outscored Marion 25-22 in the fourth.

But as time ran down, the Buffaloes press defense looked increasingly helpless against the tic-tac-toe passing Marion was able to employ. Jessica Wollenberg notched two foul shots  in the waning moments, giving Republic a 55-54 lead.

At the other end, Kayley Heerey drew a hard foul on a dribble drive that sent diminutive guard Alta Svoboda crashing to the floor in a lot of pain, and Heerey added insult by making both free throws for a 56-55 lead with six seconds left to preserve the Warrior victory.

After winning a nailbiter against the tournament hosts to gain a spot in the fifth place game, the boys contest against Wamego ended almost as soon as it began, with the Red Raiders bullying their way to a 7-0 lead en route to opening up a 13-3 margin.

Wamego led 17-9 at the end of the first, and 28-15 at halftime. Marion put together a stronger effort in the third quarter, but saw the Red Raider lead grow to 17 points.

Luke Gordon put together a solid double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Eric Vogel scored 12. Calvin Jeffrey scored 9, and the rest of the team totaled 8 points.

The Warriors offered no defensive answer for Grant Shaw, who scored 23 points including a 6-of-10 showing from 3-point range, and three other Red Raiders reached double-digits: Mark Ten Eyck (15 points), Alec Philip (10) and Alex Bulk (10).