Behind Kayley Heerey?s 25-point night, the Marion High School girls basketball team thrashed Nickerson 72-59 on the road Feb. 17. The boys lost by a 53-37 final score.
Heerey and Julia Zeiner each made seven of 11 field goal tries?but Heerey hit 3-for-6 from 3-point range and tacked on eight free throws to lead Marion?s scorers.
The Warriors started a bit slowly, as Nickerson clung to a 14-14 tie through one quarter. But MHS escaped the Panthers? grasp with a 25-18 second quarter, and demolished the possibility of a comeback with a 23-9 third quarter.
Lindsay Hett scored 22 points on an 8-for-13 field goal shooting night that included a 3-for-4 mark from the 3-point arc.
Marion turned 16 turnovers into 21 points, but made most of the difference in the final score with free throws.
MHS drew 20 personal fouls?and fouled out Panthers scoring leader Shelby Morford?on the way to outscoring Nickerson 18-2 at the foul line.
As a team, Marion committed 21 turnovers and allowed 17 points off turnovers, on top of allowing 17 second-chance points on 18 Nickerson offensive rebounds.
The Panthers outrebounded Marion 31-26 despite Whitney Gordon?s eight boards. Gordon also blocked four shots.
On the boys side, Clayton Crandall?s 19 points and 12 rebounds led Nickerson out to a fast start on the way to a 27-19 halftime lead. Marion trailed 12-6 after the first quarter and was outscored in each subsequent quarter.
Isaac Hett scored a team high nine points for Marion, and Luke Gordon added seven points and nine rebounds.
The Warriors committed 22 turnovers.
Hillsboro swept Marion Friday. For coverage, see 1B.
Coming?Marion hosted Smoky Valley Tuesday. Next week, Marion hosts sub-state games. The first game will be played on the home court of the higher-seeded team.
In addition to the Trojans and Warriors, the field includes Southeast of Saline, Halstead, undefeated Hutchinson Trinity, St. John?s Military, Sedgwick and Reming?ton.
Seeding and schedules will be determined today (Feb. 25), and will be posted at www.hillsborofreepress.com as soon as the information becomes available.
