Marion sweeps Canton-Galva in double-digit wins

Written by Katie Morford Tuesday, 31 January 2012 21:33

It may have taken a little bit to get the Warriors' offensive engines warmed up, but once it got going it propelled both the boys' and the girls' teams to double-digit wins over Canton-Galva tonight. The girls got the job done first with a 30-15 victory, and the boys followed it up with a 59-42 win over the Eagles.

The boys now stand at 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the Heart of America league, and the girls are at 2-11 overall and 1-5 in the league. They are scheduled for a tough HOA match-up Friday as they host Berean Academy. 

Girls - It may not have been pretty, but Marion took care of business in the first quarter despite looking sluggish out of the gate. Katey Ehrlich and Kelli Hess traded baskets to put the Warriors on top, 7-0, with two minutes left in the period. The Eagles scored three from beyond the arc, but Kaelyn Thierolf and Whitney Gordon combined to give Marion the lead, 11-3, at the end of the quarter. 

The Warriors dominated the second quarter, outscoring Canton-Galva, 9-4. Ehrlich and Gordon put up two baskets each and Erin Meierhoff chipped in a free throw to put Marion up, 20-7, at the break. 

Marion looked a bit lackluster out of the locker room, but they maintained an aggressive defense and forced turnovers to keep the game well in hand. Ehrlich put up four points to make it 28-14 at the end of the third quarter.

Marion cruised to their 15-point victory in a low-scoring final period to give them their second win of the year. Ehrlich led in scoring with 11 points and Gordon added 10 points. 

Boys - The Warriors' definitely weren't running on all cylinders out of the gate, going scoreless for the first 3:15 of play time despite getting some good looks. They regrouped for a 7-0 scoring spurt to take the lead, 7-4, with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. But the Eagles sneaked in a basket at the buzzer to take an 8-7 lead at the end of the period.

The second quarter might as well have been a different game as the Warriors blazed their way to 20 points, allowing the Eagles just 10 points. Jacob Harper, Taylor Heidebrecht and Scott Jones joined forces to give Marion a 15-12 lead with 4:13 left to play. Canton-Galva hit back-to-back baskets from beyond the arc to regain the upper hand but Heidebrecht scored on a rebound to spark a Marion scoring burst of 12 unanswered points in the remaining 2:12 of the period. Marion held a comfortable 27-18 lead going into the locker room.

Marion heated up from behind the three-point line after the break to help them seize a 20-point lead near the end of the third quarter. Jordan Hett started the trend with a three-pointer from the corner at 6:30 and swished two more before Mikael Antoszyk found the basked from beyond the arc to give the Warriors a 47-24 lead as they closed out the quarter.

Canton-Galva made six points off three-pointers and improved from the field to chip away at the Marion lead. But even after most of Marion's starters were benched with close to five minutes to play, the Warriors put up six more points inside to give them the 17-point margin of victory. 

Though Marion mainstays Hett and Harper both made double digits scoring with 16 and 15 points, respectively, the Warriors are showing an increasingly balanced offense as Jones put up 10 points and Heidebrecht scored nine.