Staff writer
The Marion boys’ basketball team led for the majority of its game against Ell-Saline Tuesday night, and pulled away at the end to win 48-43.
Coach Jeff McMillin said the outcome was not the prettiest, but he and the team were happy to win.
“A win is a win, but we’d like to perform a little bit better,” he said.
Three minutes into the game, the Warriors led 5-3, and extended their lead to 12-5 behind five points from Zach Robson.
The Cardinals took their first lead in the game midway through the second quarter with a 3-pointer, only for Robson to answer with a three for the Warriors. The game was tied at 23 at halftime.
Ell-Saline took a three-point lead early in the third quarter, but Robson, and Grif Case scored to regain the advantage, and Jacob Baldwin made a buzzer-beating tip to help the Warriors lead 32-26 going into the final quarter.
Marion led by multiple scores for the entire fourth quarter, going 5-of-8 at the free-throw line in the last minute to win, 48-43.
Scoring
Tim Knolla, 5; Robson, 16; Baldwin, 10; Taylor Heidebrecht, 10; Case, 6.
Monday at Remington
McMillin said the Warriors’ 47-25 win at Remington Monday was similar to the game Tuesday against Ell-Saline.
“We got against a team that we knew we could do well, but we didn’t have our edge,” he said. “We woke up a little bit in the second half and didn’t allow them to score in the third quarter. That was big.”
Warriors lose to Teutons Friday
A slow start made for a difficult comeback attempt Friday when the Warriors played in Inman.
The Teutons jumped out to an 8-0 lead after a three on their opening play. They increased their lead to 10 with two minutes left in the first quarter, but a three and a buzzer-beating jump shot by Tim Knolla brought the Warriors within four, at 13-9.
Zach Robson and Grif Case made 3-pointers in the second quarter, and the Warriors forced turnovers to create points, but they still trailed by four at halftime, 24-20.
Marion took its first lead of the game four minutes into the third quarter after Knolla and Heidebrecht scored on drives to the bucket. Inman quickly snatched the lead back with a three on its next possession to lead 29-28, leading 38-34 at the end of the quarter.
The Warrriors again took a brief lead with 3 minutes remaining after Case made a jumper, but the Teutons scored three after a foul conversion a minute later. Leading 43-41, Inman controlled the rest of the quarter to win 48-43.