Marion boys and girls basketball teams both struggled Friday as they lost their opening games against Southeast of Saline.

Girls

The Warriors stayed in the game, bit were beaten 51-31 by the Trojans.

“The effort was there and they played well, we just had too many turnovers,” said coach Jason Hett. The game kicked off his first year as coach for the Warriors.

The team struggled to take care of the ball with a total of 29 by the end of the game.

“We need to work on handling the ball, Hett said. “If we start making some good passes we’ll be OK.”

Jayden May was the top scorer for the team, putting up 16 points for the Warriors — two of which were three-pointers. Courtney Burkholder scored nine times for the girls, with three, three-point shots.

Chisholm Waner and Alfwenna Meyer each put up two for Marion.

The team faces Eureka at 7 p.m. on Thursday during its home tournament the Marion Classic.

Boys

Marion High’s boys also fell behind Southeast of Saline 52-26 on Friday.

The team lost six seniors to graduation this year, but coach Terry Edwards, who was unavailable at press time, said earlier this year that he was optimistic about the continuity for the team.

“These guys play freshman ball together, they play JV ball together, so it’s not like we are trying to put together new pieces of the puzzle,” Edwards said as the boys scampered through a drill during a pre-season practice.

“The puzzle is already put together. It’s just getting them to step up and play at the varsity level.”

This is his second year as Marion High’s coach.

The Warriors will face another test at 8:30 a.m. Friday against Remington during the Marion Classic.