Warriors hang on for win over Inman; girls lose in overtime

The scenario on the court looked eerily familiar tonight as the Marion girls let their match-up with Inman slip away in overtime, 44-41, after leading most of the game. The Marion boys ended up on the better end of the deal, surviving a late Teuton surge to escape with a 54-50 win. 

BOYS – The Warriors bore a disturbing resemblance to last Friday’s team that started against Bennington, as Marion got good looks against Inman but couldn’t get any to fall, allowing the Teutons to cruise to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of play. 

Jacob Harper came driving inside to score and made his free throw for a three-point play at 3:20, but Inman responded with five more points. Finally, momentum began to shift the Warriors’ way when Zac Robson lofted a three-pointer with 33 seconds left to spark an eight-point run into the first two minutes of the second period.

Mikael Antoszyk, who came out hot tonight to score 15 points, put up his first of three buckets from the perimeter to tie up the game, 14-14, at 5:09. Jordan Hett would tie it once more before Antoszyk sank his second three-pointer to give Marion their first lead of the night. The Warriors went on to score 10 more points, out-scoring Inman, 23-8, in the quarter and taking a 29-20 lead at halftime. 

Marion’s Antoszyk and Ethan Hett traded three-pointers with Inman through the third quarter, helping the Warriors to hang on to a narrow lead. The Teutons drew within six points with 55 seconds left, but Harper came up with the free throw to complete a three-point play at 32 seconds. Inman snuck in a bucket on the buzzer to make it 42-35 at the end of the quarter.

The Warriors struggled to score inside all night, instead stepping up at the perimeter to make plays, and in the fourth quarter the trend held true.

Marion traded baskets with Inman before Taylor Heidebrecht sank a three-pointer at 6:43 to give Marion a double-digit lead, 47-37. The Teutons sank back-to-back threes to jump right back in the game, but Heidebrecht again found the basket from beyond the arc to make it 52-43 with 3:16 left to play. Inman put together five more points as the clock ran down, but Jordan Hett dropped in two free throws with 29 seconds left to secure the win. 

Marion scored 24 points from beyond the arc, nearly half of their total points in the game. Antoszyk led the team in scoring with 15 points, but Jacob Harper had 14 points and Jordan Hett added 10 points.  

GIRLS – Marion came out to take a modest lead, 11-6, at the end of the first quarter, aided by Katey Ehrlich’s six points. Ehrlich sat out most of the second quarter after getting in foul trouble, resulting in a very sluggish eight minutes with only four points for Marion. Fortunately for the Warriors, aside from a three-pointer halfway through the quarter, the Teutons also looked stale. Marion still led, 15-13, at halftime.

Marion began the third quarter strong with an 11-2 scoring spurt that included a three-pointer from Whitney Gordon and put the Warriors on top, 26-15, with five minutes remaining. The Teutons retaliated with a 9-3 scoring burst before Gordon powered in to the basket to close out the quarter, making it 31-24. 

The Warriors quickly put six points on the board to begin the final period, but Inman would heat up for three baskets beyond the arc and 15 unanswered points to take their first lead of the game, 38-37, with 2:18 left to play. With just 51 seconds on the clock Gordon hit a free throw to tie the game and send it into overtime.

But Inman scored four straight points to go up, 42-38, with 1:11 remaining. Finally Kelli Hess drained a three-pointer from the corner to give Marion a fighting chance, making it 42-41. But the Warriors could not come up with the needed basket, missing free throws and turning over the ball Inman sank two freebies with four seconds left for the final three-point margin of victory. 

Gordon scored 19 points, including six from the perimeter, and Ehrlich and Hess added nine points each. 

COMING UP – Marion is scheduled to host a rematch with Bennington Friday before traveling to Sedgwick Feb. 21 to close out regular season play. 

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