ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DIANE MAYS
The Marion boys capped their regular season with a lopsided 78-46 road win over Chase County Thursday.
Brian Bina hit the first Warrior basket 40 seconds into the game. After a 3-pointer by Mitch Enos and a 2-pointer from Joel Versch, Marion controlled the lead for the rest of the game.
The Warriors led 20-14 after one quarter, with Vogel contributing six points. Marion then launched a 10-2 run in the second quarter on the way to 42-23 halftime lead.
Coach Rex Ostmeyer created his team’s defense and its offensive execution for the huge half.
“We started to get some defensive stops, and we just continued to execute pretty well against their zone,” he said.
The third quarter was much the same, with Marion extending its lead to 63-34 by the break.
Chase County tried to make a comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring three 3-pointers. But Marion held their ground and secured the win.
Ostmeyer was most pleased with his team’s offense.
“We’re starting to play together, we’re starting to share the ball with each other, we’re starting to work as a unit.”
Marion 70, Council Grove 35
After waiting patiently for the first three minutes of the game, Marion took control of Tuesday’s game with Council Grove and went on to a decisive 70-35 victory last Tuesday.
Marion kept Council Grove from scoring until the Braves slipped in a basket with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter. It would be their only score of the quarter.
Marion, meanwhile, didn;t score until Brian Bina nailed a 3-pointer with 2:41 to go. The Warriors added 10 more points for 12-2 lead at the break.
By halftime, Marion had walked away from Council Grove with a 32-9 lead.
Coach Rex Ostmeyer attributed the lead to his team’s defense.
“I think the defensive statement in the first half kind of set the tone,” he said. “You give them two points the first quarter and they’ve got nine at half-time, we just did a super job defensively.”
The third quarter was a busy one. Marion racked up 20 points, but they let off on defense and allowed the Braves to score 19. But Marion led at the buzzer, 52-28.
“We fell asleep a little bit defensively in the third quarter,” Ostmeyer said. “They started going really hard to the boards, and we gave up some second chances.”
Marion finished the game with a 16-2 scoring spree.
“Not that we were perfect or anything, but we did a great job,” Ostmeyer said.
Scoring for Marion in double figures were Bina with 16, Vogel with 15 and Tyler Stubenhofer with 12.
Coming-The Warriors (10-10) were scheduled to take on Lyons in the opening round of sub-state play Tuesday. If they won, they will take on the winner of the Ellsworth-Hillsboro game Friday at Hesston.
