Defense keys Marion boys' 50-26 win over Ellinwood
Written by Tom Stoppel
Tuesday, 18 January 2005
The Marion Warriors got back on the winning track Friday night by defeating Ellinwood on the road, 50-26.
Marion coach Rex Ostmeyer said defense was the springboard to an easy victory.
"They only shot 21 percent from the field, so defense really was the story of this game," Ostmeyer said. "They run an offense similar to ours, so we kind of knew what to expect.
"This was their fifth game in eight days, so they were kind of fatigued and didn't have their legs," he added. "The combination of that and our defense forced them into a poor shooting percentage."
Both teams started slowly. Marion trailed the Eagles 8-6 after one quarter. But the the Warriors exploded for 16 points in the second quarter.
"We got into a little bit of a flow in that quarter," Ostmeyer said. "I think we executed a lot better and we have much better depth than Ellinwood, so they started to wear down.
"We just did a nice job in this game."
Leading 22-13 at halftime, Marion kept the pressure on and extended the lead to 32-21 after three quarters.
"Our main goal is to make people shoot over our hands and get rebounds when they miss," Ostmeyer said. "I thought our defense did a really nice job."
Marion iced the game in the fourth period, outscoring the home team 18-5.
Ostmeyer said the big lead enabled him to go to more deeply into his bench.
"We haven't had a chance to play that many people lately because the game seems to always come down to the wire," he said. "Our junior varsity guys gave up a couple of easy baskets early on, but settle down and did a nice job and got their feet wet against varsity competition.
"It was really nice to get those guys some playing time."
As he has most of the season, Dale Vogel led the Warriors' attack, scoring 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting and was 2-for-2 from the line. He pulled down eight rebounds.
"This was a typical game for Dale," Ostmeyer said. "I ask him to play a lot of minutes, and I think he's done a good job all year long. He shot well and got a lot of buckets inside and even made some shots I didn't know her could make. It was another solid game for him."
Travis Hett scored 15 for Marion on 5-for-13 shooting but Hett was 4-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc.
As a team, Marion hit 20 of 48 shots (42 percent) from the field including five of 11 (46 percent) from beyond the arc.
With the victory, Marion improved its record to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the MCAA.
Collegiate-The Marion Warriors lost at home Tuesday to Wichita Collegiate, 59-43.
It was evident early that the Class 4A visitors from Wichita were athletic.
"We started in our man-to-man defense and, quite simply, we just weren't athletic enough to guard them," Marion coach Rex Ostmeyer said. "They beat us off the dribble and got into the lane and created havoc."
The result was a 22-13 lead for the Spartans after one quarter.
Ostmeyer said his team adjusted well after its slow start, but met with late misfortune.
"They had about eight makes inside of five feet and then to top it off, they hit a 3-point shot at the first-quarter buzzer," he said. "We started competing hard and had cut the lead to just six points before that shot put the lead back to nine.
"I would have felt better if that hadn't gone in."
Things began to even out in the second quarter as Marion's zone kept the Spartans from driving the lane for the most part.
"We battled them pretty well, but they kept pounding us inside," Ostmeyer said.
Doing the primary damage was 6-foot-2 freshman Chris Harper.
"He really punished us," Ostmeyer said. "He's a specimen."
Ostmeyer said by taking away the drives and switching to a zone defense, the Warriors' ability to rebound suffered.
"It's always more difficult to rebound out of a zone," he said.
Marion trailed 35-23 at halftime.
Marion's defense was up to the task in the third quarter, but the offense continued to sputter. The Warriors managed just six points and trailed 49-29 at the final break.
Ostmeyer said the Spartans' inside presence caused problems the entire evening.
"They out-rebounded us 38-25 and we also gave up some easy transition baskets," he said. "They had two 3-point shots in the game and one just inside the line and the rest of their baskets were from in close."
In fact, 21 of Collegiate's 24 2-point hoops came from within 10 feet of the basket.
Marion did outscore the visitors in the final frame, but ended on the wrong end of the 59-43 score.
Jason Hett paced the Warriors with 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the floor and 5-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line.
Dale Vogel added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds. The Spartans won the battle of the boards, 38-25, including 19 on the offensive end.
Collegiate's Harper led all scorers with 19 points.
As a team, the Warriors hit 17 of 48 field-goal attempts (35.4 percent) compared to 26 of 65 (40 percent) for the Spartans.
Although disappointed in the loss, Ostmeyer said it's no shame to lose to the talented Spartans.
"We just got beat by a better team and that's really what it was," he said. "They played 10 or 11 kids and they're good athletes.
"As they go along through this season, they'll definitely be a factor in the league race and they could do some damage in 4A."
The loss dropped the Warriors to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in MCAA play, but Ostmeyer liked his team's effort.
"I thought we played hard and we weren't intimidated," he said. "We just need to realize we won't play a more physically gifted team the rest of the year. We need to move on and work on getting better for our next outing."
