Heading into the final week of the regular season, Marion High School basketball teams are going to have a hard time finding any momentum to carry into the postseason. 

Victories were nowhere in sight this past week with both Warrior teams going winless starting with Tuesday’s sweep by hosting Remington and capped Friday at Elyria Christian. 

The Warrior girls’ team was close, but Elyria outlasted Marion, 35-31, handing the Warriors a fourth consecutive defeat to drop to 3-16. 

It was definitely better than last month’s 44-18 blowout by the Eagles in Marion, but the Warriors still had no answer Friday with Elyria dealing the Warriors a second loss of the week, 58-41, to fall to 2-17. 

The Warriors begin sub-state play next week at Herington. 

Girls flustered by Eagles

When the Warriors think about what cost them against the Eagles, the first and third quarters would be good places to start. 

The Warriors opened the game struggling to get the ball in the basket and fell in a hole they could never fully get out of, 14-5. 

The Eagles endure the same quarter Marion had in the first in the second with the Warriors outscoring Elyria 10-4, but the Eagles still had a narrow 18-15 lead at the break. 

Elyria doubled the Warriors in scoring the third quarter, 6-3, and the Eagles still had a 24-18 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Marion rallied down the stretch for a 13-11 advantage, but the damage was done in the first and third quarter to extinguish the fire. 

Chisholm Waner scored a game-high 10 points and Chloe Burkholder buried a trio of threes to finish with 9. 

The Eagles also got a boost from 14 trips to the free-throw line opposed to the Warriors’ one. 

Boys struggle shooting

For the second time in as many games, the boys found themselves stuck in the 40s, after scoring a season-high 71 points in a thrilling victory over Ell-Saline. 

That’s not enough against a team like the Eagles. Two of last week’s heroes, Jaxton Tracey and Luke Dawson, couldn’t find their groove, and Marion shot 33% from the floor.

That basically left,Braedon Mercer, to go it alone. Mercer did all he could, scoring a team-high 13 points while pulling down 10 rebounds for, but the double-double wasn’t enough. 

Marion trailed 12-9 after the first quarter, but the Eagles widened the gap to 30-25 by the break. 

The Warriors struggled battling for rebounds, and outside Mercer’s 10, no other Warrior pulled down more than three rebounds, for just 21 total, with six offensively. 

That was pivotal in Elyria extending its lead, denying Marion second-chance opportunities. 

The Warriors were within 9 to start the fourth quarter, but a single-digit output of five points squashed Marion from gaining on the Eagle lead. 

Tracey and Dawson combined for 15 points with 8 and 7, and Dawson grabbed a trio of rebounds.