Warrior boys drop games to Railers, Knights

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DIANE MAYS
Despite an explosive first half, the Marion boys couldn’t produce a win Friday night at Herington. The Railers won by a point, 53-52.

From the beginning of the game until the final buzzer ran, the outcome of the game was in doubt.

With 27 seconds remaining, Marion scored to tie the game at 52. With one second left, Marion fouled Herington’s Ryan Glessner. The senior missed the first shot, but he sank the second one to decide the game.

The game started as close as it ended with Herington managing a 22-21 lead after one quarter..

Marion coach Rex Ostmeyer said he was pleased at the fast pace of the game.

“That’s the way we wanted to play it,” he said. “I knew they were going to be deliberate. We wanted to try to push the tempo and make them play a bit physical.”

The second quarter was much slower, much to the consternation of both coaches. By intermission, the Warriors had climbed on top 35-30. Marion still led by five points as the third quarter came to end.

The problem came midway through the fourth quarter.

“For 28 minutes (the game) was perfect,” Ostmeyer said. Then Herington started to close the gap as the Warriors struggled to execute offensively.

“We scored five points in the fourth quarter, we scored 21 in the first,” Ostmeyer said. “We got timid and we didn’t know how to finish the game.”

With four minutes left and Marion leading, 49-47, Herington’s Casey Schlesener made a trey, giving them the lead for the first time since the first quarter.

After a free-throw by Brian Bina, the Warriors had tied the game at 50 with a little less than two minutes to go.

After Herington’s Glessner scored twice at the charity stripe, Bina scored again to tie the game at 52. But Marion couldn’t hold off the Railers long enough to send the game into overtime.

Ostmeyer attributed the loss to turnovers and hurried shots.

“We didn’t get quality possessions, and you can’t win when you do that,” he said.

But the first 28 minutes of the game showcased some of the best play the Warriors have had all season.

“We’ve got to figure out how to finish games and win close games,” Ostmeyer said.

Jason Matz led Marion with 12 points, and Bina added 11. Glessner led the Railers with 11 points and Brian Sheppard added 10.

With the loss, the Warriors are 2-6 for the season, and 2-2 in league play. Marion played host to Wichita Trinity on Tuesday. They will play at Wichita Independent on Friday before competing at the Trojan Classic in Hillsboro next week.

Sacred Heart-The Marion boys hustled, but couldn’t hustle up a win against Sacred Heart on Tuesday. The Warriors fell to the Knights in a heartbreaker, 57-53.

The difference in the game came during the fourth quarter when four Warriors fouled out.

The quarter began with Sacred Heart leading, 36-35. With the score 40-37 in favor of the Knights, the Warriors rebounded a missed Sacred Heart shot. The officials called a foul, but Warrior fans were convinced the call should have been for a flagrant foul.

Marion coach Rex Ostmeyer said he didn’t get a good look at the play.

“I was kind of shielded from the action,” he said. “Realistically, those two kids have been battling each other for years and years, on the football field and on the basketball court. I don’t think anything flagrant happend or any punches were thrown, so I don’t know if a technical was warranted in that situation.”

About a minute later, the officials made another controverisal call. With Sacred Heart leading, 44-41, the Knights threw a pass down the court to Dave Helvey, who was being closely guarded by Marion’s Tyler Stubenhofer.

As Hevley turned to drive to the bucket, he knocked over Stubenhofer. The officials called a charge, to the consternation of the Sacred Heart coach.

After that call, the game got increasingly rough-five players fouled out before it was over. Marion was whistled for 27 fouls and Sacred Heart for 21.

“I knew tonight was going to be a dogfight,” Ostmeyer said. “It was going to be a battle every possession. (The Knights are) playing with a lot of confidence. They just beat the No. 1 team in the state in 3A Friday night in Beloit.

“I knew that if we would defend and rebound the ball and get rid of our silly turnovers, we’d be in the ball game. We gave ourselves a chance to win and, realistically, that’s all you can ask for.”

Marion led after one quarter, 14-9. By halftime, the Knights were ahead, 25-22. The Knight were still ahead by one heading into the final period.

The fourth quarter was a rough one. Sacred Heart scored 12 points at the chairty stripe and Marion scored six.

Ostmeyer said turnovers late in the game hurt his team.

“You’ve got to make every possession count,” he said. “You at least have to get a shot and give yourself a chance.”

Ostmeyer said he was pleased with his team’s effort.

“We fought hard,” he said.

Alan Vogel led the Warriors with 14 points and Jared Hett added 12.

Matt Ryan led the Knights with 17 points, followed by Brian Bechard and Austin Pratt with 15 and 14, respectively.

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