By ADAM STEWART

News editor

When the Marion boys visited Berean Academy on Friday, neither team scored for almost three minutes to begin the game.

When Taylor Heidebrecht made a free throw with 5:11 left in the first quarter, points started flowing in slowly for Marion. But even after Berean scored its first point with 2:44 left in the quarter, their offense barely began to trickle in. Marion led 9-1 at the end of the first quarter.

Scoring remained difficult for both teams in the second quarter, as Marion took a 15-7 lead into halftime. Marion’s difficulty came converting transition opportunities into points.

Berean’s difficulty was making free throws. Berean was 1-of-11 from the free throw line in the first half and finished the game 1-of-12 from the line.

The third quarter was almost as low-scoring as the first. Jacob Harper scored the first points of the second half with a hesitation move in the high post to score with 4:44 left, despite being fouled on the play.

Wiley Lundy scored in the post with an assist from Heidebrecht, and Austin Pedersen hit a three-pointer with an assist from Lundy. Marion led 23-11 at the end of the third quarter.

Marion didn’t waste any time extending its lead in the third quarter, as Ethan Hett made a three-pointer and a free throw. Jordan Hett scored on a drive, then Harper made a layup with an assist from Heidebrecht after Ethan Hett began a fast break with a steal.

Harper extended Marion’s lead to 22 by sinking a pair of free throws to make the score 35-13. A free throw by Pedersen made the score 36-18 before Berean scored to bring the final score to 36-20.