Marion girls fall to Hutchinson Trinity

Despite a six-point lead at halftime, Marion lost to Hutchinson Trinity 45-36 Tuesday in the regular-season finale.

?We didn?t compete as much as we have some other nights. Against a team that?s pretty good, you just have to be able to do that,? coach Kelly Robson said. ?As soon as things started going against us, we kind of just went in a bit of a shell.?

Katey Ehrlich and Kir?sten Hansen scored early baskets for a 4-0 lead, and the Warriors still led 8-5 when the first quarter ended.

The Celtics answered with a 12-3 run to establish their largest lead of the half, 17-11, at the 4:03 mark. Marion responded with 12 straight points, including three consecutive baskets by Kelli Hess, and enjoyed a 23-17 lead at halftime.

?We were getting some layups and some fast breaks, and when we got the little kick-outs for some 15-foot jumpers, we were making our jumpers,? Robson said. ?I felt really good at halftime. I didn?t know if we could sustain that kind of effort.?

Trinity turned the tide with a 13-0 run out of the break to take the lead for good at 30-23.

?I knew Hutch Trinity was going to come out and play that much harder (after halftime),? Robson said. ?They put it to us pretty good in the third quarter. We just didn?t step up and compete when they raised their level a little bit.?

After Kaelyn Thierolf broke Marion?s scoring drought with a layup, the teams traded baskets the rest of the period, which ended with Trinity ahead 34-29.

Marion was within four twice after that, the final time at 37-33 when Hess scored at 4:23 left. Two Celtic baskets increased the margin to 41-33 before Bailey Robson scored.

Trinity made four of six free throws to extend the lead to 45-35. Ehrlich added a final free throw as the game wound down. She and Hess shared scoring honors for Marion with 13 points each.

Coming?Marion will host a Class 3A sub-state tournament this week. First-round games will be played at the school with the higher seed. Semifinal and final games will be played at Marion.

Fifth-seeded Marion (9-11) was scheduled to play at No. 4 Hutch Trinity (11-8) Tues?day in the quarterfinal round. The winner of that game will face either No. 1 Hesston (18-1) or No. 8 Hal?stead (6-14) Friday in the semifinals. The title game will be 6 p.m. Satur?day.

Filling out the field are No. 3 Haven (11-8), who hosts No. 6 Sedgwick (8-12), and No. 2 Southeast of Saline (13-7), who will host No. 7 Sacred Heart (7-13).

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