Staff writer
The Marion High School boys basketball team jumped out to a 12-6 lead Friday over Hutchinson Trinity on the road.
The Warriors were attacking the basket with seniors Jordan Versch and Dillon Richmond scoring layups off drives. Marion also put pressure on Trinity guards with a 2-2-1 press.
Gradually, the Celtics started to score and the Warriors went cold; Marion scored three points in the second quarter. Still, Marion was within a basket at the half, 17-15.
Early in the third quarter, Trinity started to speed past the Warriors on the fast break. Marion committed turnovers, 16 for the game, and the Celtics scored 15 points in both of the final two quarters, mostly on layups. Trinity won the game, 47-31.
“We ran ourselves tired. We stopped making good decisions,” coach Jeff McMillin said. “The team we played was in better shape. They still had legs.”
Four Marion players played more than 20 minutes Friday with sophomore point guard Jordan Hett logging the most time — 28 minutes 57 seconds. Part of the reason the Warriors were tired is because they were missing a player. Senior forward Dane Purkeypile will not play on Fridays or Saturdays because he is respecting the Seventh-Day Adventist Sabbath.
With their stamina depleted, the Warriors stopped attacking on offense. Hett scored 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
“I knew he would be solid,” McMillin said. “He played how I expected he would.”
Only five other Warriors scored, the second highest being Richmond with six.
The Celtics had two players score in double figures. Derek Racett scored 19 points on 9-of-19 shooting and Michael Mesh scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
Marion shot 33.3 percent from the field while Trinity shot 41.5 percent. Other than the first quarter, the Warriors failed to score double digits in any quarter, recording 3-, 7-, and 9-point quarters for the remainder of the game.
In a point of emphasis for McMillin, Marion was outrebounded, yielding 14 offensive rebounds to the Celtics.
“I’m very disappointed,” McMillin said of the rebounding effort. “We stopped boxing out.”
Part of the reason the Warriors had trouble rebounding was a reliance on zone defense. Marion played a 2-3 and a 3-2 zone on Friday. Rebounding is easier in man-to-man defense because players know who to box out on every possession.
“The primary reason was because we knew nothing about them,” McMillin said for playing zone. “We got a picture of who they were.”
McMillin said Marion would be better in March than in December; the Warriors are starting a new lineup this season.
“It’s early in the season,” McMillin said. “We hope to get better.”
Marion Boys Box Scores
Marion 31
Hutchinson Trinity 47
Name FG FT PTS PF R S A
Antoszyk 1/3 0/0 3 0 1 1 1
Pedersen 0/1 0/0 0 1 1 0 0
*J. Hett 5/12 3/3 15 0 1 0 3
E. Hett 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
McCarty 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
*Versch 1/5 0/2 3 3 4 1 0
*Harper 1/3 0/2 2 1 1 0 2
Meierhoff 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
*Richmond 3/9 0/0 6 1 4 0 0
*Jones 0/2 0/2 0 2 3 0 0 Purkeypile 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0
Stuchlik 1/1 0/0 2 1 0 0 0