By BEN KLEINE

Staff writer

The Marion High School girls basketball team defeated Eureka, 59-33, Monday in the first round game of the Marion Classic.

The game was a tale of two halves. The Warriors were only leading 27-17 at halftime.

The first half was a story of discombobulation. The Warriors committed 19 turnovers in the first half. Both teams were stymied in the second quarter by a plethora of traveling calls and poor perimeter ball handling that led directly to steals for both teams.

As an effective barometer for Marion, Lindsay Hett struggled in the first two periods of play. She was often the victim of Eureka’s Ashlen Schwartz who had seven steals on the night. Hett, Marion’s point guard, had trouble bringing the ball up the court with Schwartz’s constant harassment. She was also one of several Warriors to shuffle her feet before dribbling and received a couple traveling calls. Four of Hett’s five turnovers were in the first half.

“No. 20 (Schwartz) is a heck of a guard; she’s only a freshman,” Marion head coach Randy Savage said. “She was a pain.”

But, Hett and the Warriors rebounded marvelously in the second half. Hett relinquished her duties as the Warriors primary ball-handler and instead set up shop in the post.

“We just figured out what we needed to do,” Hett said. “We did a better job in the second half finding mismatches.”

Hett was the top benefactor from those mismatches, scoring 12 of her game-high 18 points in the second half.

The Warriors dominated the paint in the second half. Whitney Gordon recorded 11 of her game-high 14 rebounds in the second half. Instead of trying to drive into the teeth of the Cyclone defense, the Warriors were more prone to shoot jump shots. Marion was able to keep its team shooting percentage close to 50 percent while using their superior height to gain second-chance opportunities.

Defensively, the Warriors slowed the pace of the game by stepping back their press. By sitting back into a zone, Marion forwards Hett and Gordon preyed on sloppy passes and started several fast break opportunities.

Kristen Steinborn ran the break effectively, making the right decision of when to pull back the offense and when to attack.

Overall, Savage was pleased with the team’s performance in its first game.

“We shot well from the floor; I thought we played OK,” he said. “Too many turnovers; that’s unacceptable by 21 or 22 turnovers.”