The Marion High School girls took a 31-11 halftime lead, and ended
up needing every inch of it to hold off Republic County. The Buffaloes
used a 19-3 run in the third quarter to make a game of it, and
outscored Marion 25-22 in the fourth.
But as time ran down, the
Buffaloes press defense looked increasingly helpless against the
tic-tac-toe passing Marion was able to employ. Jessica Wollenberg
notched two foul shots? in the waning moments, giving Republic a 55-54
lead.
At the other end, Kayley Heerey drew a hard foul on a
dribble drive that sent diminutive guard Alta Svoboda crashing to the
floor in a lot of pain, and Heerey added insult by making both free
throws for a 56-55 lead with six seconds left to preserve the Warrior
victory.
After winning a nailbiter against the tournament hosts
to gain a spot in the fifth place game, the boys contest against Wamego
ended almost as soon as it began, with the Red Raiders bullying their
way to a 7-0 lead en route to opening up a 13-3 margin.
Wamego
led 17-9 at the end of the first, and 28-15 at halftime. Marion put
together a stronger effort in the third quarter, but saw the Red Raider
lead grow to 17 points.
Luke Gordon put together a solid
double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Eric Vogel scored 12.
Calvin Jeffrey scored 9, and the rest of the team totaled 8 points.
The
Warriors offered no defensive answer for Grant Shaw, who scored 23
points including a 6-of-10 showing from 3-point range, and three other
Red Raiders reached double-digits: Mark Ten Eyck (15 points), Alec
Philip (10) and Alex Bulk (10).
