The Marion boys missed a third-place finish at the Warrior Classic last week by just three points, losing to Remington, 50-47, in the finals Saturday after defeating Eureka Friday and falling to Berean in overtime Thursday.
Saturday?s loss put the Warriors at 2-2 for the season.
Remington?The Warriors struggled right out of the gate Saturday, falling behind, 13-9, after the first quarter. But Marion rallied to narrow the gap to 22-19 going into halftime.
Marion opened well after the break, outscoring the Broncos, 15-12, to tie the game, 34-34, at the end of three quarters.
The fourth quarter was neck-and-neck, but the Warriors couldn?t find the last two baskets to get the job done in their 50-47 loss.
Jordan Hett and Jacob Harper provided the offensive spark for the Warriors, with 18 and 17 points, respectively, with two three-pointers each.
The Warriors shot 50 percent from the field and 42 from beyond the arc. But similar to Thursday?s game, the lack of rebounding proved the Warriors? undoing. Marion was out-rebounded, 26-11.
?We lacked the enthusiasm that we needed to win,? said coach Jeff McMillin. ?Rebound?ing was again our weakness and the best indicator of why we lost the game.?
Eureka?Marion rebounded from a tough overtime loss to Berean Thursday, with a 53-57 win over Eureka Friday.
Jordan Hett was looking for personal redemption as well after going scoreless against Berean.
?He was on a mission to go out and have a good game,? said coach Jeff McMillin. ?We all kind of gravitate around him. He did a good job.?
Hett scored 20 points with Jacob Harper adding 14.
The Warriors started off sluggishly, depending on Hett?s six points in the first quarter to keep within range at 13-8 after one quarter.
But the second saw four lead changes and a combined 30 points scored. Hett started the action, sinking a basket and a free throw at 6:28 to make it 13-11.
The Tornadoes came back with a three-pointer, but Mikael Antoszyk responded in kind to again put Marion within two, 16-14. Taylor Heidebrecht hit another three pointer 30 seconds later and Antoszyk scored a lay-up off a steal to give Marion a 19-18 lead.
?The first ounces of momentum came from those half-court shots,? McMillin said about the back-to-back three-pointers. ?We did a good job of getting momentum and keeping it for longer stretches at a time. I?m happy about that.?
Eureka regained the lead, 26-25, going into the break.
Marion came out strong in the second half, averaging 62 percent shooting from the field to outscore Eureka, 28-14, over the final two quarters, including a 12-0 run early in the third period.
Hett dominated for Marion, stealing balls, scoring in the lane in traffic, hitting the jump shot and making the assist for Heidebrecht. Zach Robson scored off a rebound with just 55 seconds left to help Marion to a 43-36 lead by the end of the quarter.
Hett?s basket at 7:45 gave the Warriors an 11-point lead, 47-36, in the first minute and a half of the final quarter. Harper scored off a Jones assist at 5:13 to give Marion its biggest lead of the game, 49-36.
Eureka drew within nine points with 2:11 left to play, but the Warriors held off the rally to secure the victory.
The Warriors had 23 points off turnovers to Eureka?s six points.
Marion shot 44 percent from the field, comparable to Eureka, but the Tornadoes were considerably better from beyond the arc, making 36 percent to Marion?s 15 percent.
Berean?The Marion boys lost Thursday by four points in overtime to Berean Academy, 41-37, after leading most of the game .
?Disappointing, because of the outcome on the scoreboard,? said coach Jeff McMillin. ?They?re a well-coached team and a good program. But we were genuinely disappointed because they felt like we should have won the game. The culprit was the rebounding.?
Marion was out-rebounded, 27-19, and had just one offensive rebound to Berean?s 14.
?That?s something that?s going to have to be addressed as we move on, more than anything else,? McMillin said.
After a hot first quarter, during which Marion outscored Berean, 10-5, it appeared the Warriors would win their second game of the season. But Berean would not go away and Marion mistakes at key times let the game slip away.
Berean led, 18-13, at halftime, but was up, 25-24, after three quarters.
Baskets by Jacob Harper and Taylor Heidebrecht put Marion on top, 29-24, in the final period. But Berean rallied to tie the game at 31-31.
With the game tied at 33-33, Marion turned over the ball with just 50 seconds remaining. But Berean missed its shot and Harper snagged the rebound to send the game into overtime.
Berean went up by four, 37-34, with back-to-back scores. But Harper made two free throws with 2:25 remaining to bring Marion within two, then scored off a steal to tie the game at 37.
Berean scored again to take a 39-37 lead with 1:15 remaining. Two fouls on Marion in the final seconds of overtime gave Berean four points on free throws, and the 41-37 victory.
Harper was the only Marion player to make double digits with 17 points. Hett, usually a Marion scoring mainstay, had no points on the night.
?Jordan didn?t play a bad game,? McMillin said. ?He was getting hounded by two guys and watched by two others every time he touched the ball. (Harper) stepped up big time.??
The Warriors shot 44 percent from the field and 45 percent beyond the arc.
Coming?The Warriors are scheduled to play again before their winter break at Hillsboro Dec. 20.
