Staff writer
The Marion High School girls basketball team lost 53-24 to Moundridge Friday at Moundridge.
Scoring hardships continued for the Warriors, who scored 4 points in each of the first two quarters and never reached 10 points in any quarter throughout the game. Moundridge led 18-4 at the end of the first quarter and eventually built a lead as large as 32 points in the third quarter. Marion scored 2 points at the free-throw line in three opportunities; coach Randy Savage wants to see his team get to the foul line more frequently.
Whitney Gordon and Donna Cady were the high scorers for Marion with 9 points each. Savage was pleased with the aggressive offensive play of Gordon, who shot the ball 14 times. Savage encouraged Gordon to continue to be aggressive and keep shooting, even though the Marion junior has struggled since the Warriors’ win against Peabody-Burns Dec. 7.
Moundridge had little trouble scoring. The Wildcats eclipsed the Warriors total game total by the second quarter, shooting 45 percent for the game. Moundridge was led by a lineup of forwards, all registering 5-foot-8 or taller, who could shoot from the outside and handle the ball. MacKenzie Suderman scored 18 points and Taylor Schrag had 15 points. Brooke Holloway contributed 8 points and Tiffany Fisher scored 6.
Although the Warriors shot 25 percent from the floor, Savage said the team’s problem Friday was turnovers. Marion committed 19 turnovers and surrendered 29 points off those giveaways.
“The turnovers were killing us,” he said. “That’s scoring off darn near every turnover.”
He argued, had the Warriors cut in half the number of points resulting from turnovers, the team may have been in the game.
Led by Gordon who compiled 10 rebounds, the Warriors did win the rebounding battle, 30-29.