The Marion girls gained their first league win Friday at Canton-Galva to improve to 1-5 in Heart of America play and 7-10 overall.
Canton-Galva?Marion struggled through the first quarter but found its rhythm in the second on the way to a 47-36 win over the Eagles.
?We?re getting lots of compliments from people from town about how hard they?re playing, and they really are,? coach Kelly Robson said. ?We still missed too many layups, and we didn?t make as many free throws as we?d like to, but we forced them to defend us.?
Canton-Galva opened the game with back-to-back baskets by Erika Smith and Cassidy Enns. When Marion managed only four free throws the duration of the quarter, the Eagles enjoyed a 9-4 margin at the first break.
The tide began to turn at the start of the second quarter. Kelli Hess drained a three-pointer and scored the tying basket with 6:10 before halftime. A basket by Kaelyn Thierolf gave Marion the lead, 11-9.
Katey Ehrlich made a basket before Smith scored to bring Canton-Galva within 13-11. Marion led 17-13 at intermission.
Marion burst out of the locker room with six unanswered points to lead 23-13 when Kirsten Hansen scored.
It was a back-and-forth battle until another 6-0 Warrior run extended the lead to 31-17 after Hess scored off her steal. The quarter ended with Marion leading 35-23.
For the Warriors, the fourth quarter became a battle from the charity stripe. All 12 of Marion?s points came from free throws. The Eagles, meanwhile, hit three three-pointers in the final 1:38 courtesy of Smith, Enns and Keana Haydon, but when the final buzzer sounded, Marion led by 11.
Hess and Ehrlich shared scoring honors for Marion with 12 points. Ehrlich also grabbed 10 rebounds. Smith led Canton-Galva with 11 points.
Ell-Saline?Marion rallied from a 28-19 halftime deficit against Ell-Saline Tuesday, but in end lost the contest, 56-51.
?We missed some open layups (and) a couple of front ends of one-and-ones in the first half?instead of being nine points (behind) at halftime, it could?ve been six or maybe four,? coach Kelly Robson said.
The Warriors fell behind early and trailed the duration of the first half. Ell-Saline increased its lead to 40-27 with 3:06 left in the third quarter. But Marion used an 8-0 run to cut that margin to 40-35 when Julia Hall scored with 34 seconds left in the quarter.
The Cardinals maintained a 42-37 advantage heading into the final period.
A free throw by Bailey Robson and basket by Ehrlich cut the lead to 51-48, late in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Warriors would get.
Ehrlich led Marion with 19 points. Hess added 11.
Coming?Marion was scheduled to play at Sedg?wick Tuesday and will host Bennington Friday. In the teams? first meeting this season, Marion defeated Bennington 33-30.
