Marion girls lose two games last week

Bailey Robson shoots for two at Moundridge Tuesday. Robson scored four points and pulled down eight rebounds in Marion?s 46-31 loss. Janae Rempel / Free Press

The Marion girls led a majority of the first half at Ell-Saline Friday, but the third quarter proved to be the turning point, as a seven-point Warrior lead turned into a two-point deficit, and the Cardinals went on to win, 41-36.

?We were just scared to death tonight, and I have no idea why,? coach Kelly Robson said. ?We were scared to make turnovers, which made us make more turnovers. We were scared to miss shots, which means we were going to miss shots. We were just scared of almost everything we were doing, and you just can?t play a game like basketball scared.?

Ell-Saline scored first, but Bailey Robson tied the game, and two free throws from Kourtney Hansen put Marion in front by two. The Warriors led the duration of the first half. The first quarter was a back and forth battle until Marion gained distance, 12-7. Marion led, 14-11, by the end of the period.

Neither team scored in the first three minutes of the second quarter. The teams traded blow for blow, and the half ended with Marion in front, 21-18.

The Warriors used a 7-3 run after halftime to take their largest lead of the night, 28-21, at the 4:12 mark. Then things took a turn for the worse. With Marion struggling to get anything going offensively, the Cardinals ended the period with a 9-0 run, taking the momentum and the lead, 30-28.

?They threw a long pass that I thought we could come up and get, and we didn?t come and get (it),? Robson said. ?Not only did we not come and get it, but we let somebody get behind us, and then they got that layup for their lead.

?That just kind of describes the whole night. Some of us were out there trying to pressure hard, and some of us were too scared to make a mistake, and by being scared to make a mistake, we made a mistake, and that cost us in that spot.?

After yet another Ell-Saline score, Julia Hall broke Marion?s scoring drought with a basket that brought Marion within 32-30. Trailing 34-30, Marion outscored Ell-Saline 6-1 to take a 36-35 lead when Erika Hess made a pair of free throws with just 59 seconds left. Ell-Saline jumped in front with a basket with 36 seconds to play. Marion committed turnovers on its next two possessions, and Ell-Saline increased its lead at the free-throw line.

?Obviously we had a chance in this game,? Robson said. ?We thought this was one that we could get in the victory column and we just didn?t. They?re pretty discouraged, but somehow they have to find confidence in themselves.?

Kourtney Hansen led Marion with 15 points.

Moundridge?The Warriors got off to a slow start in Tuesday?s 46-31 loss to the fifth-ranked Wildcats.

The Wildcats? leading scorer, Ashley Holler, opened scoring with a three-pointer, and Moundridge built to an 8-0 lead. Marion managed only one basket in the period, made by McKenzee Remmers at the 2:43 mark. From there, with Marion shooting 1-for-11 in the opening quarter, the Wildcats increased their lead to 14-2 by the end of it.

?I thought we had OK shots in the first quarter, they just didn’t go in,? coach Kelly Robson said. ?Then they started to go in. Sometimes coming to a different gym just is a little bit different.?

Moundridge increased its lead to 18-2 to start the second quarter, but then the Warriors found a spark. Kirsten Hansen drained a three-pointer that ignited an 11-0 Warrior run. Kourtney Hansen contributed six points to the rally, including a basket that brought the Warriors within 18-13 with 3:01 left in the half.

Moundridge increased its lead to 11, but Kourtney Hansen scored the final two baskets of the half to bring Marion within 25-18.

?The girls hung in there, and I was really proud of them for doing that,? Robson said. ?We got it back to seven at halftime. We really thought maybe we could get someplace from there, and then we let them stretch it back out again.?

Kirsten Hansen cut the margin to four with a three to start the third quarter, and Marion trailed, 27-23, when Bailey Robson scored at 3:33. Moundridge scored its only three field goals of the quarter in succession at the end, though, to enjoy a 34-23 lead at the end of three.

Holler extended the Wildcats? lead with a three-point play before Kourtney Hansen scored two baskets to cut the deficit to 10 with 4:34 to play. That was the closest Marion got, however, and the Warriors fell by 15.

Holler led all scorers with 16 points. Kourtney Hansen led Marion with 14.

?We know Moundridge is a very good team,? Robson said. ?They’ve only lost two this year, and their two losses are to really good teams, so we knew this was going to be a difficult game for us.?

Coming?Marion (2-6, 6-12) was scheduled to host Sedgwick Tuesday before traveling to Sedgwick for a rematch Feb. 24.

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