He wasn't pleased that Cardinals had multiple opportunities to shoot on occasion as Marion hauled in just 17 rebounds in a 46-45 loss at Hoisington.

"The story of the game was rebounding," Enos said. "I'd say we were pretty evenly matched with them physically, though."

Both teams played aggressively in the first half with Hoisington taking a modest 25-21 lead at halftime.

While struggling to stay in the game with the Cardinals, Marion actually reduced the halftime deficit by a point after three quarters, 35-32.

Enos said the girls showed him more in the loss than they have in several games this year, even some they've won.

"I felt like the girls, for not practicing for three days, came out sluggish," he said. "But I thought they showed more heart then they've show yet this year."

They needed all the heart they could muster after falling behind by 10 points twice in the second half.

But Marion battle back and tied the game at 44 with just 1:30 to play.

Enos said his team missed several opportunities throughout the game to put more points on the scoreboard.

"We missed probably 10 or 12 points on easy shots, and we couldn't hit on some penetration drives," he said. "It would have been nice to get more points earlier in the game so we didn't need them so badly at the end."

With Marion trailing by a single point with just seven seconds to play, Allie Maddox was on the free-throw line with a chance to tie the game or give the Warriors a lead. But Maddox missed both free throws and Hoisington held on for the win.

Enos said the two missed free throws wasn't why his team lost.

"Free throws we missed early in the game count for just as many points as those last ones did," he said.

Battling for the chance to win was what mattered most to the third-year coach.

"We had some big plays when we needed them and our press worked better than it has for a while, and we got some production out of it," he said. "The press wasn't perfect, but I thought our overall defense was better."

Maddox led the team with 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Toni Gordon added 10 points.

The Warriors hit 10 of 34 field goal attempts (29 percent), including five of 17 from behind the 3-point arc.

Megan Hudson contributed a team-high four rebounds and seven steals.

As a team, Marion converted on 10 of 16 free throws (63 percent).

With the loss, Marion falls to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.

"I think our first league game was probably about what we expected," Enos said. "It was a little more physical than we're used to, but we just need to get used to that.

Coming-Marion was to host Wichita Collegiate on Tuesday. The Warriors travel to Ellinwood on Friday.