Marion trailed 41-12 at halftime, making “will a Warriors scorer reach double-digits?” the only unresolved question to be decided in the fourth quarter.
Luke Gordon barely crossed the line with 10 points, and Eric Vogel came up just short with nine.
There was no moment that more exemplified the Warriors rough shooting night (15-for-50, 30 percent) than when the last-second heave to close out the first half was snared by the volleyball net above Marion’s half of the gymnasium.
The game followed the same arc in the third quarter, as Hesston outpaced Marion 25-8.
But when both teams’ junior varsity players returned to the floor in the fourth, the game turned back into a contest.
The JV game itself came within an eyelash of a Marion win, when Mitch Cady banked in a last-second 3-pointer that was called back on account of a timeout by the MHS bench with 1.5 ticks to go.
Coming out of the timeout, the Warriors ran a set play for Brian Fruechting, whose throw from the top of the key narrowly missed the mark. After coming within an inch earlier in the night, the Marion subs won the fourth quarter of the varsity game 14-4.
Sterling?The Black Bears romped their way to a 52-42 win over Marion, using a 16-5 third quarter run to turn a 24-21 halftime score into a 14-point lead.
Marion outscored Sterling 16-12 in the fourth quarter.
Wil Case scored 10 points in 14 minutes of action, and Eric Vogel tied him to lead the Warriors in both points (10) and rebounds (6).
Gabe Dierksen (17 points) and Matt Bennett (15) led Sterling in scoring.
Coming?Marion (5-12) played at Nickerson (7-9) Tuesday and visits Hillsboro (10-6) Friday. The Warriors?s regular season ends Feb. 24 at home against Smoky Valley (6-10).
