Girls win, boys tumble

By RYAN RICHTER

Staff writer

The trip to Hutchinson-Trinity turned out bittersweet for Warrior basketball teams Friday night.

In girls’ action, the Warriors turned back a furious fourth quarter Celtics’ rally to hang on for a 58-50 victory.

Trinity’s duo of Connor Remar and Kaleb Hammeke proved too much for the Warriors, who surrendered a combined 50 points to the duo and let a halftime lead slip away in a 72-67 loss.

The victory boosts the girls’ record to 6-1 in the HOA league and 13-4 overall while the boys fall to 2-5 and 7-9.

Girls

Marion used a balanced scoring attack to take a 14-9 lead after the first quarter with Sam Richmond scoring 13 of her team-high 16 points as part of a 30-25 Warrior lead at halftime.

The Warriors used a 14-10 third quarter to stretch their lead to 44-35 to start the fourth quarter.

The Celtics held Richmond to a mere three points the second half, but Kourtney Hansen and Alli Molleker stepped up to help Marion stay in control.

Hansen added 16 points while Molleker finished with 10 to pace the scoring.

Trinity managed to outscore the Warriors in the fourth quarter, 15-14, but Marion’s work through the first three quarters was enough to stamp out the Celtics’ rally.

Boys

Too much size in the frontcourt and a mean third quarter proved pivotal in stymieing the Warriors with the Celtics taking advantage of their NCAA Division 1-sized twin towers of 6-8 Remar, and 6-9 Josh Bridgewater.

The Warriors were in front after the first quarter, 13-11, and 32-29 at halftime before a disastrous third quarter saw the Celtics’ size start getting the best of them.

Surprisingly, the Warriors kept Trinity from dominating the offensive rebounds, allowing just three.

But Trinity still outdid the Warriors overall, dominating rebounds, 26-15.

Trinity’s size allowed high percentage shots, which added up to a sinister 68 percent on the night, with Remar shooting a scalding 88 percent on 14-for-16.

The Warriors were unable to get much going inside for a 21-of-49 on the night and 43 percent.

Remar broke loose for 12 of his 30 points in the third quarter as Trinity outscored Marion, 24-14, for a 53-46 lead heading into the final stretch.

What the Celtics didn’t get inside was taken care of by Hammeke’s precise three-point shooting on 4-for-6 from outside and 78 percent overall.

Hammeke’s 20 points helped finish with a double-double with 11 assists, also.

The Warriors countered with a balanced scoring attack paced by Sam Zinn’s 20 points.

Chase Stringer supplied 13 points while Evann Heidebrecht and Zach Stuchlick combined for 22 with 12 and 10, respectively.

The Warriors travel to Elyria Christian Friday for a pair of games with the Eagles.

The Eagle boys’ team was presently top ranked in Class 1A Division II until suffering their first loss last week.