Marion boys and girls win at Centre Tourney

Boys–

The Marion boys won an exciting battle last night with the White City Huskies, 35-33, to advance to the final round of the Centre Tourney.

?They played hard tonight,? said Marion coach Jeff McMillin. ?They played really hard.?

After not having a particularly good performance in the Warriors? win against Elyria last Tuesday, Warriors? mainstay Jordan Hett came out strong last night. He had eight points before the first break for the Warriors, and racked up another six points before the half to help put the Warriors up by two points, 22-20, with mere seconds left before the break.

However, the Warriors would not go into the break with the lead. A wild desperation shot from a Huskies? player flew the length of the court and hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded, putting the Huskies ahead by only one point, 23-22.

Hett had another six points to his name in the last portion of the first half, helping the Warriors to a narrow lead, 32-29, as they headed into the locker room at halftime.

Only seven points were scored by both teams combined in the second half. Very strong defensive efforts by both teams kept the ball away from the basket, making the score only 33-32, the Huskies leading, with only three minutes left in the game.

In a bold, risky move, Warriors? player Jacob Harper went for the long shot with 2:20 left and nailed a three-pointer to win the game for the Warriors, 35-33.

?That took some guts,? McMillin said. ?We?ve been talking about taking ownership and you can see them starting to do that. It matters more to them than it does to us, and that?s what it takes to get better.? He also said that it was good to see Hett bounce back really strong.

Hett was the only Warriors? player in the double digits, with 22 points on the night. The Huskies? had two players in the double digits, Jaren Nittler and Tanner Boeh tying with 12 points.

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Girls–

The Marion girls took down White City last night, 33-30, in the second round of the Centre Tourney.

?It was just a better game,? said Marion coach Randy Savage, referring to their loss against the Hope Lions this past Tuesday. ?Just a better game.?

It was a close game all the way, with the Warriors holding a narrow lead over the Huskies for most of the first half. With 1:25 left on the clock the Huskies? Allie Blythe made a layup off of a steal to tie the game, 14-14. Not to be outdone, the Warriors Whitney Gordon found the basket with 46 seconds left to give the Warriors a two-point lead, 14-16, going in to the locker room.

Gordon put points on the board again in the first few minutes of the second half, sinking two free throws. The Huskies continued to battle for the lead, keeping with two to four points of the Warriors. With 3:20 left before the break, the game started to heat up as both teams seem to find their scoring groove.

Erin Meierhoff hit a long 3-point shot for the Warriors to start off the run, which sparked a steal off a layup from the Huskies? Cyndi Carson to make the score 25-21 with the Warriors leading. The Huskies? Mindy Stilwell backed it up with a long three-pointer to narrow the Warriors? lead to one point. The Warriors responded by Meierhoff nailing another long three-point shot to put the Warriors back ahead, 27-24, with 7:30 left before the break.

The teams battled back and forth on the line in the last minutes of the game, with the Warriors making six points off of free throws and the Huskies making three points.

In dramatic desperation shot at the buzzer, the Huskies? made a long three-pointer to make the final score 33-30.

?The defensive effort was better, but we gave them too many offensive rebounds,? said Savage. ?We can?t give somebody that many second tries.? He also said their turnover count was improved as well.

Gordon was the only Warriors? player in the double digits with 12 points; the Huskies? Stilwell was the other player in the double digits with 14 points for the night.

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