With Marion ahead 59-58, Ellinwood's Ethan Thomas stepped behind a high screen and buried a 3-pointer at the
buzzer to put his team on top a hair before the buzzer sounded.
Officials ruled that Marion had called time out before the clock
expired, putting a momentary halt to Ellinwood's post-game celebration.
With
1.4 seconds on the clock, the Warriors set up an inbounds play for
Calvin Jeffrey, who took a long pass and one dribble before hoisting a
closely-guarded last-second 3-pointer. The shot fell short, spoiling a
sparkling effort from the senior guard. Jeffrey led all scorers with 20
points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in 28 minutes of action.
Ellinwood
overcame a 46-39 deficit, knotting the game at 46-46 with 5:16 to play
and taking a 48-46 lead on a layup by Ryan Ward. Marion had trailed
29-27 at halftime, but had rattled off a 6-0 run to grab the lead in
the first minute of the third frame.
In the manic moments that
followed, Justin Heidebrecht tied the game with a jumper in the lane,
Ward notched a layup after his initial shot was blocked away by Isaac
Hett, and Jeffrey re-tied it with an offensive rebound and putback.
Then Ward hit again on a short-range jumper assisted by Thomas for a
52-50 Ellinwood lead. Jeffrey drew a foul at the other end and buried
two foul shots to tie it again. Glenn Whitaker gave the Eagles a 54-52
lead, and Luke Gordon wiped it away with a nice putback of a miss by
Jeffrey. A pair of foul shots by Alex Birney gave Ellinwood a 56-54
lead with 2:15 to go.
Marion worked methodically for an open
shot on its next possession, but the 3-pointer refused to fall. Eric
Vogel tied up the offensive rebound in a scramble underneath, and
possession stayed with Marion.
With 1:27 to go, Heidebrecht was
fouled and nailed the opener of a 1-and-1 chance. Heidebrecht followed
up a miss on the second shot with aggressive defense, forcing Birney
into a bad pass. Jeffrey picked the loose ball out of the air and
drove into the lane, drawing the lone defender to him and firing a
no-look pass to Heidebrecht for an open layup and a 57-56 lead.
Heidebrecht
then stood his ground against Birney at the other end, picking up his
third personal in the process. Birney missed the front end of a
1-and-1, and Heidebrecht caught the rebound. Marion called time out
with 57 seconds remaining.
The Warriors worked the ball around
the perimeter, and forced Ellinwood to foul with 29 seconds left.
Elliott Hett went to the line and gave Marion a 58-56 lead.
Then Birney dribbled the clock down to the point of having practically no time left and found Thomas, who stuck the game-winner.
Birney
scored 12 points in support of Thomas and Ward, who each scored 14.
Thomas and Ward each added 11 rebounds, and Ellinwood carried a 43-33
advantage on the glass. The Eagles outscored the Warriors 24-3 from
3-point range.
The girls clobbered Ellinwood 58-36 in the early game
behind 26 points from Julia Zeiner. An 8-0 run in the opening moments
of the contest sent the Eagles spiraling out of control. The Warriors
took a 14-2 lead with 1:30 left in the first and a 19-4 lead into the
second.
Consecutive layups by Zeiner assisted by Lindsay Hett and
Kimber Hardey gave Marion a 31-9 lead?its largest of the night?and
prompted an Eagles time out with 3:57 left in the frame. The half ended
with the Warriors up by 20, with the score 37-17.
Ellinwood
closed the gap to 13 points, but Hett slammed the door on any thought
of a comeback, working a nifty give-and-go with Kayley Heerey high on
the left wing side, cutting to the basket and taking a precise return
pass for an uncontested layup. That basket made it 49-34, and Marion
outscored the Eagles 7-4 the rest of the way.
Heerey totaled 12 points and Hett added 6.
