Warrior girls split two with Bennington, Remington

Taelyn Pagel shoots for two during the second half at Bennington Friday. Pagel scored eight points in Marion’s 34-26 victory.The Marion girls split two games last week to move to 2-1 in Heart of America league play, 7-2 overall.

Bennington—In a low-scoring contest, Marion earned a 34-26 victory Friday.

The Warriors started strong by scoring 15 points in the first quarter, then managed just 19 after that.

“We thought we could get out and run against a team like this, and we did get a couple of run-outs and some layups doing that,” coach Kelly Robson said. “We made a couple outside jumpers early in the game, and then, as has been the season, really, we don’t get those outside shots to go in as consistently as we’d like them to.”

Marion burst to a 13-1 lead, not allowing Bennington to make a field goal until less than one minute remained in the period. The first quarter ended with Marion holding a double-digit advantage, 15-5.

Kourtney Hansen scored the first basket of the second quarter, but Marion did not score over the next 3:36, allowing Bennington to draw within 17-10. Alli Molleker broke the drought, then Hansen scored Marion’s final two baskets of the half for a 23-14 margin at intermission.

In the low-scoring third quarter, Taelyn Pagel scored four of Marion’s six points, and the period ended with Marion in front, 29-18.

Bennington went on a 6-2 run to start the final quarter to trim the Warriors’ lead to seven, 31-24, but Marion weathered the rally and won by eight.

Hansen led all scorers with 17 points.

With the win, the Warriors rebounded from Tuesday’s loss to Remington.

“Tuesday was just not a good experience for any of us,” Robson said. “Not just that we lost. We just didn’t feel like we played the way we were capable, and tonight, I don’t think anybody would say we played the way we were capable either, for the whole game. For stretches we played well, but we just have to keep trying to get better. Yes, this is a step in the right direction from Tuesday, but we still have many more steps to take, hopefully, in that direction.”

Remington—Marion suffered a 51-27 loss to the Broncos Tuesday.

Coach Kelly Robson said his team’s effort was not up to par in the game, which saw the Broncos jump to an early, 8-0, lead. Marion salvaged the remaining 4:35 of the first quarter by scoring the final seven points, closing the gap to 8-7 by the end of it.

After Sam Richmond made a basket 45 seconds into the second quarter, Marion endured a 5:28 stretch without making a field goal. Kourtney Hansen and Taelyn Pagel each scored two free-throws before Richmond ended the drought with a basket at the 1:47 mark. At that point, Remington led, 21-15, and the Broncos extended it to 25-17 by halftime. Hansen and Richmond combined to score 14 of Marion’s 17 first-half points, each with seven.

Remington’s Emily Laham—the game’s leading scorer—hit a pair of three-pointers in the first 2:37 to extend the Bronco margin to double figures, then Richmond answered with a trey at the 4:08 mark, making it 31-22. Marion, however, scored just five points after that—a span of 11:52. Remington scored 20, and ended the third quarter with a 6-1 run to lead, 37-23.

Marion’s scoring woes continued in the fourth quarter, as the Warriors remained locked at 23 the first 6:31. Hansen broke the spell with a basket with 1:29 to play. By that time, Remington had tallied all 51 of its points. Taelyn Pagel scored off a turnover to bring it to the final, 24-point spread.

“We’re trying to grow as a varsity basketball team,” Robson said. “We’ve got a good number of wins. Now we need to learn to compete at this level of game.”

Richmond led Marion’s scoring effort with 10 points. Hansen scored 9 to go with her 11 rebounds and eight steals.

Coming—Marion will compete in Centre’s Cougar Classic tournament this week. First-round games were played Tuesday. The girls, as the No. 1 seed, faced No. 8 Peabody-Burns.

Additional teams in the field are: No. 2 Centre, No. 3 Herington, No. 4 Rural Vista, No. 5 Elyria Christian, No. 6 Solomon and No. 7 Wakefield.

The tournament will continue Friday and conclude Saturday. Visit hillsborofreepress.com for same-night reporting and an updated tournament schedule.

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