The Marion High School girls were swept by Garden Plain, Inman and St. John at the Inman tournament and stand at 1-3 for the season.
Garden Plain defeated the Warriors 72-43 Tuesday. Inman beat Marion 57-52 Thursday and St. John won 54-17 on Friday.
St. John—The Tigers, ranked first in Class 2A by the Wichita Eagle, had their way with the Warriors after a slow start.
The Tigers took an 11-2 lead, and with 2:44 left in the opening quarter, put together a back-breaking sequence of missed shots and offensive rebounds that culminated in a 3-pointer for Brooke Burgen.
Julia Zeiner added a 10-foot jumper on Marion’s next possession, but the quarter ended with St. John leading 23-4.
Hett started the second quarter on a strong note for Marion, driving, scoring and drawing a foul, and burying the free throw to make it a 3-point play 1:20 into the frame.
If for only an instant, it seemed that the Warriors were gaining steam as Zeiner scored a layup on the next series, then ran the floor and scored again. But her second basket was wiped away by a dubious offensive foul call, and St. John pushed its lead to 38-11 at halftime.
Kayley Heerey hit Marion’s first shot of the half, but the Tigers continued their dead-eye shooting, posting a 14-4 run to close out the game.
Zeiner led the Warriors with 7 points.
Inman—The final score of Thursday’s 57-52 loss does not reflect how close the game was, according to Savage:
“We dug a hole in the second, but got back in the lead late in the fourth,” he said. “We just expended too much energy doing it.”
Julia Zeiner scored 19 points, Lindsay Hett tallied 14 and Kayley Heerey added 7.
Garden Plain—The full-court press proved only a small obstacle for Marion, according to coach Randy Savage. But despite repeatedly breaking the press, the Warriors had trouble finishing their opportunities.
“We let their press speed us up too much,” Savage said. “We played well against it—we actually had more turnovers against Inman. It was one of those games where we would have had to play really well just to stay within 15 points.”
Lindsay Hett scored 16 points, Kayley Heerey scored 14 and Julia Zeiner added 4.
Coming—Marion (1-3) was scheduled to face Lyons (1-3) Tuesday in Marion.
The Warriors are set to play Smoky Valley (1-2) Friday in Lindsborg.
