Inman tourney unkind to Warriors
Sports reporter
After a blowout in its opening game of the season, Marion High School boys' varsity basketball team dropped all three games this past week at the Inman tournament.
Round-robin play began Dec. 4 for the Warriors when they traveled to Garden Plain to take on the Owls.
GPHS was too much, winning 99-77.
The Warriors then fell 59-50 to Inman Thursday, and Friday they lost to defending 2A state champions St. John, 73-56, to complete the tournament.
While the offense was there for MHS, all three teams exposed a weakness for the Warriors on defense.
The inside game for MHS' opponents dominated the Warriors.
Nearly 75 percent of the points given up for MHS were within 15 feet, and Inman hit just one basket all night from outside of 10 feet.
"I think we can play with everybody. The problem we are having right now is we are giving up such great shooting percentages because they are killing us inside," MHS head coach Rex Ostmeyer said. "We are just going to have to figure out a way to defend bigger, stronger people."
MHS averaged 60 points in the three games, and had some great individual performances as well.
Senior Calvin Jeffrey dropped in 26 points against Garden Plain, and averaged 18.3 for the tournament.
Fellow senior Justin Heidebrecht had 17 points against the Owls and 13 against Inman, sophomore Eric Vogel scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds at Garden Plain, junior Elliot Hett had 10 points, six rebounds, and four steals against Inman.
Ostmeyer was pleased at times with the offense, but wanted to see more consistent play from everybody.
"We did some good things," he said. "But right now we need to make sure we focus every possession of the game. Sometimes we have a tendency to check out for a few plays."
Ostmeyer knows not focusing for even a few possessions can change the course of a game. But despite losing all three games to three tough teams, he thinks his team can benefit from the competition.
"Yes, we all want to win our games and have a great record," he said. "But playing bad teams and winning doesn't prepare us."
He pointed out St. John lost all three games this past year at the state tournament by double figures, including a 20-plus point loss to Marion, and then went on to become state champs.
"You try to learn what your weaknesses are, and you go back and fix them," Ostmeyer said. "Hopefully we can get something going here right before Christmas."
The Warriors are now in the midst of league play, (although the Tuesday game against Lyons will not count toward league standings) and every game from here on out will count toward a league championship.
For now, practices will be focused on becoming mentally and physically prepared to play bigger, stronger teams.
With focus on every play the key word.
"At the varsity level, you get beat if you take possessions off," Ostmeyer said.
MHS will play Friday at Lindsborg against Smoky Valley, and come back home Tuesday for a game against Sterling.
For complete box score statistics from the Inman tournament, see Page 10.
