Hillsboro never trailed in the game, but the first half remained close.

With the score 5-4 in the early minutes, the Trojans outscored the Warriors 6-2 in the final 3:16 to take an 11-6 lead at the first break.

Hillsboro extended its lead to 15-6, but 3-pointers by Molly Rhodes and Megan Hudson on either side of a 2-pointer by Sarah Williams pulled the Warriors back into contention at 17-14.

A basket by Hannah Marsh and a free throw by Emily Ratzlaff pushed the lead back to six, 20-14, at intermission.

Hillsboro started the decisive third quarter with a 6-0 run on baskets by Amy Duerksen, Ratzlaff and Megan Peachey-the latter two scores coming of off steals.

Marion responded with consecutive baskets by Toni Gordon and Amber Richmond to cut the deficit to 26-18 with 4:26 left in the period.

But a 15-footer by Marsh 25 seconds later sparked an 11-0 Trojan run to close out the period. Marsh ended the explosion with a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer in the final 44 seconds. JuliAnne Chisholm chipped in the other four points during the run.

"I don't know what happened," Marion coach Daryl Enos said about his team's play in the pivotal quarter. "We just cannot hold on to the ball and we didn't shoot very well either."

The Warriors got as close as 41-28 midway through the final period, but the Trojans rebuilt the lead to 18 by the final buzzer.

Marsh enjoyed a career night with 24 points. The sophomore point guard was 10-for-17 from the floor, including 4-for-9 from behind the arc. Marsh made all five of her shots in the second half, including three of her 3-pointers.

In addition to her production on offense, Marsh added eight assists, six rebounds and two steals to her inventory.

JuliAnne Chisholm added 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting, pulled down nine rebounds and registered a team-high five steals. Duerksen added nine points on 4-for-8 shooting and pulled down six rebounds.

Coach Becky Carlson was pleased with her team's play, particularly in the second half.

"The second half was really good," she said. "We changed our offense a little bit. We spread it out more, and that opened the middle more. And our press worked really well in the third quarter.

"But the biggest thing is we just moved the ball and took good shots-and they were falling."

A 14-for-25 shooting performance in the second half raised the Trojans' shooting percentage to 40 percent after a sub-par 9-for-32 effort in the opening half.

Carlson said her team's relatively slow start may have been a residual effect of its frustrating overtime loss to El Dorado on Tuesday.

"We started out hard but maybe a little tentative, like that loss just kind of knocked it out of us," she said. "But once we got started, I thought we played a really good game."

Carlson praised her team's defensive play throughout the game, limiting Marion's normally wide-open attack to 13-for-44 shooting (30 percent).

"I just think they were very patient," Carlson said about Marion's play on offense. "Our defense was really good. They didn't really have a shot a lot of the time."

Leann Thomas and Gordon led a balanced attack with eight points each and Sarah William added 7. Gordon added a team-high six rebounds.

Enos said he was disappointed in his team's play.

"The first half wasn't bad, and the coaching staff thought if we take care of a few things, we're in business," he said. "But I don't know...we don't seem to thrive on adversity too much. It kind of seems like we're folding up our tent all of a sudden."

Coming-Hillsboro (7-6) was scheduled to travel to Halstead on Tuesday to take on an improved Dragon squad (6-7). A report of that came will appear in this week's Free Press Extra, on newsstands late Thursday afternoon.

The Trojans will play host to Sterling (5-8) on Friday, then will welcome Haven (2-10) to Brown Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Marion was to take on Smoky Valley (7-6) on Tuesday, then will return to their home court Friday to take on Nickerson (5-9). On Tuesday, the Warriors will play host to state-ranked Hesston (11-2).