Marion girls advance to sub-state championship with 54-52 upset of Burlington

The Marion girls advance to the Eureka 3A sub-state championship with a 54-52 win over No.1 seeded Burlington Friday night in Eureka.

The physical game was in doubt until the final?10 seconds. Marion scored three straight points to end the ball game, taking a 53-52 lead on Lindsay Hett put back of a missed Julia Zeiner free throw.

?It wasn?t planned,? said Hett. ?The Burlington girl, she didn?t get her butt on me. There was room to grab it and time to shoot it for the bank shot.?

Following the Hett go-ahead basket, Marion sealed the game when Bridget Lundy?stole the ball?in the Burlington front court and passed?it to Hett, who was fouled. Hett sunk the second free throw to give Marion a two-point lead with 1.2 secs.

Burlington threw up a desperation attempt that was off the mark to end the game.

Outscored 23-11 in the fourth quarter, Marion held off a Wildcat fourth quarter comeback that put the Wildcats up 52-50 with 20 seconds left to play. Marion led Burlington 43-29 at the start of the final stanza.

Marion took the 14-point advantage courtesy of a third quarter ending 16-4 Warrior run.

In the first half, Burlington began the game scoring the first four points. Marion took an early 8-5 lead with a 8-1 spurt. Burlington cut the Marion lead to 11-10 to end the second quarter.

Burlington took a narrow 15-13 lead with 4:35 left in the half. The Warriors tied the game at 15 with two Zeiner free throws and retook the lead 17-15 on two Hett free throws with 3:50 in the first half. Each team scored four more points to end the first half with Marion leading 23-19.

Hett paced the Warriors with 20 points, 12 rebounds, six steals and three blocked shots. Julia Zenier finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals. Kayley Heerey?10 points. Whitney Gordon contributed five points and eight rebounds.

Marion shot 43.9 percent from the field, was 0-for-7 from three and?shot 18-for-38 from the charity stripe. The Warriors had 27 turnovers.

Burlington was led by Madison Stewart with 20 points, 11 rebounds. Katlyn O?Connor finished with 12.

Burlington shot 37.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over 28 times.

Marion ended Burlington?s season, handing the Wildcats their second loss. Burlington finished the season 20-2.

?Anytime you beat a 20-1 team, that?s a good thing,? said Marion coach Randy Savage. ?We played better man-to-man defense tonight. That?s an awful good team.?

Marion advances to championship game of Eureka sub-state which will be played Saturday at 6 p.m. in Eureka. Marion will play Eureka. The Tornadoes beat Central Heights 51-40?in the other semifinal game.

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