By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff Writer

Marion’s games Friday against Inman were not how any team wants to open after a two-week break.

The girls team started promisingly, scoring the first basket of the game and holding Inman to eight points in the first quarter.

Marion boys kept their game competitive in the first quarter too, ending play down 12-9.

It was the third quarter when the hammer fell in each game, with the girls being outscored 16-2, and the boys falling to a 13-point deficit.

Both teams played better in the final quarter, but winning proved too tall a task.

The girls played lost 53-27 and moved to 1-7 on the year.

The boys matched their scoring for the other three quarters combined, with 25 points, but lost 59-50. After a fast start to the season, the team lost its third straight, falling to 4-4.

Girls

The girls’ game opened with Sam Kelsey scoring the first points and adding a trio of rebounds in the first few minutes.

Marion’s ability to start strong and take good shots are areas in which the team has improved, coach Kelly Robson said.

“We’re looking for little places where we’ve grown some, and that was a little growth spot for us,” he said. “Sam missed her first shot or two of the game in close, but they were good shots. Then she made another one, and we were right there.”

Ten players scored, but none had more than five each. Inman had two players combine for 33.

Taking care of the ball has been an issue all season and continued with 27 turnovers.

“We have to be able to take care of the basketball against pressure,” Robson said. “I thought we went for good stretches without turning it over, and then we’d go for two minutes and turn it over a lot.

Boys

The boys did well with turnovers, only registering five, but the silver lining for the game was Sam Zinn’s 30 points.

Zinn was the only Warrior in double figures, going 6 of 10 on threes and 6 of 6 on free throws.

“There are going to be nights when Sam gets like that, but the other guys still have to get 10 apiece,” coach Terry Edwards said. “We need more balance scoring.

“Their defense was good, but we had open looks. We were just coming off the first game from Christmas break and we had some time off.”

The team struggled with fouls as well. Evann Hiedebrecht fouled out 6:45 into the fourth quarter, and Chase Stringer followed suit with 28.1 seconds left.