MHS girls drop two contests
When the Marion High School Lady Warriors lost to Smoky Valley in December, 76-35, there were no silver linings to be found anywhere.
While the Lady Vikings once again came out on top Tuesday in Lindsborg, 49-32, Marion fans could take away a measure of satisfaction from the Lady Warriors' improved play.
Smoky Valley was clearly thrown off stride in the first half by aggressive and opportunistic defense by the Lady Warriors.
Two baskets by Julia Zeiner staked Marion to a 4-0 lead, and Kayley Heerey's putback briefly put the Lady Warriors in front 6-4.
Rhys Pihl's three-pointer put the Lady Vikings back on top, and if the script had played out as it did in their first encounter, Smoky Valley would have run away from Marion at that point.
But a Marion squad that has shown late-season resilience dug in its heels and refused to back down.
Lindsay Hett pulled Marion to within one, 14-13, at the close of the first quarter, and Zeiner opened the second with a baseline shot off an inbounds pass that gave the Lady Warriors a 15-14 lead.
The teams battled toe to toe, with a Lauren Helmer field goal resulting in the fourth tie of the quarter, 21-21, with just over a minute before halftime.
Morgan Cady hit a shot to give Marion the lead once more, 23-22, but Lady Viking Jacey Cullop hit a three just before the buzzer to put Smoky Valley on top, 25-23.
Marion had one of its best shooting halves of the season, making 11-of-24 for 46 percent.
While Marion defenders continued to harass Smoky Valley in the second half, the shooting touch they had found in the first half completely disappeared.
Marion held Smoky Valley to 6-of-25 shooting in the second half, but managed to score only three buckets on 22 shots themselves, a paltry 14 percent.
The Lady Vikings used the charity stripe to gradually pull away from Marion. Consistently working the ball down in the low post, Smoky Valley drew foul after foul. They paraded to the free-throw line 18 times in the second half, connecting on 11.
Marion got to the free-throw line just seven times the entire game, hitting three.
The Lady Warriors had a much stronger defensive performance than in their initial encounter with Smoky Valley. Marion held the Lady Vikings to 27 fewer points and 25 percent shooting on Smoky Valley's home floor.
Pihl was the game's leading scorer with 22, while Zeiner led the Lady Warriors with 10.
Shooting wasn't a problem for the Wichita Collegiate Lady Spartans when they invaded Marion High School Gymnasium Saturday.
Three Lady Spartans scored in double-figures as Collegiate scorched the nets with 47.5 percent shooting, as they dispatched the Lady Warriors 72-45.
Marion never led in the contest, but kept it close in the first quarter, as a Zeiner layup on a Cady assist made the score 15-13, in favor of Collegiate, with a minute to play.
But the Lady Spartans scored seven points in the final minute of the quarter, and devastated Marion with a 24-9 outburst in the second to put the game safely out of reach at halftime, 46-21.
Hett, Zeiner, and Erin Carr each scored nine points for Marion. Kim Alexander of Collegiate topped all scorers with 23.
The Lady Warriors closed out their regular season Tuesday with a home rematch against highly-touted Hesston. Marion will see first-round action in substate play Monday.
