Marion boys defeat Elyria, advancing in Centre Tourney

Strong basketball from the Marion Warriors gave them the win against Elyria Christian tonight, 57-47, in the first round of the Centre Invitational.

?It was nice to have guys come out and play well,? Marion coach Jeff McMillin said. ?We just try to get better at practice and I think we have been.?

Elyria Christian started with a bang whens the Eagles? Tyler Clements nailed a three-point shot to put points on the board. But the game moved slowly for both teams through most of the first period. The Warriors remained scoreless until getting a basket with 1:03 left. The pace picked up as the Warriors put four more points on the board, making the score 8-6 with just over six minutes left in the half.

With 3:30 left, Mikael Antoszyk sank a long three-pointer to tie the game at 11. A long three-point shot seconds later from Jordan Versch gave the Warriors the lead, 14-11, with just over three minutes left.

A three-point play from Aaron Potter with 1:16 left put the Lions ahead 18-17. The Lions at the half, 23-20.

In the second half, the Warriors a 26-25 lead on a layup by Dillon Richmond with just under four minutes left in the third period. With 3:39 left, the Warriors came alive. Antoszyk sank a three-point shot to put the Warriors ahead by four, 29-25. A mere 15 seconds later, Antoszyk caught a quick pass and nailed another three, making the score 32-25. The Warriors? Jacob Harper then sank sank back-to-back three-point shots a little over a minute apart. The four three-pointers in the last four minutes of the period vaulted Marion into to a 38-27 lead.

Points from Jordan Hett and Harper made the score 42-31 by the final break.

Hett scored on a pass from Antoszyk to give the Warriors a 44-31 lead over the Eagles at the beginning of the fourth period. With 6:28 left in the game, the Warriors went on a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 10 points. Daniel Froese sank two free throws for the Eagles, but another five-point scoring run brought the score the score to 52-37.

Antoszyk made two free throws?a change from the first half of the game, when the Warriors were one of 11 from the line?to make the score 54-39 with 2:06 left.

?I was happy with a lot of things I saw,? said McMillin. ?I like the effort I saw.? He saidn the momentum-changing three-pointers from Antoszyk late in the third period increased the tempo of the game.

McMillin also commended the Warriors? Dane Purkeypile, who had seven points on the game.

?He does what he always does?he plays strong, solid basketball,? he said.

McMillin will continue to work on not allowing the other team to speed them up, as well improving their free throw shooting.

?We didn?t shoot very well at the line,? he said. ?We?ve got to do better than that.?

He said he hoped to build off this victory as the Warriors advance in the Centre Tourney to play again on Friday.

The Warriors had two players in double digits, with Versch scoring 10 points in the game and Antoszyk leading with 12 points. Jordan Case was the only player in the double digits for the Eagles, scoring 13 points in the game.

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