Warriors start season with loss to Trojans
The Marion High School boys basketball team got off to a rocky start Friday in their season opener taking the plunge at the hands of inter-county rival Hillsboro, 46-67.
"First of all the game was at Hillsboro and we have a little bit of a rivalry," said head coach Rex Ostmeyer. "Our kids came out a little tight."
The Warriors fell behind 15-6 after the first quarter and could never get back up, hitting a scoring lapse which lasted nearly 5:00 without a field goal.
Alan Vogel scored a team-high 14 points, finally ending the drought with 2:44 left in the opening frame and chopping the Trojan-lead to 8-4.
The Trojans then darted for a 9-0 run which left the Warriors trailing 19-6 by the time Brian Bina drained a pair of free throws for Marion's first basket of the second quarter at the 5:46 point.
Marion used a 6-0 run of its own, converting a trio of the Trojans' 19 turnovers to pull to 19-12.
The Warriors, despite being outmatched in speed, managed to turn the ball over three times less than Hillsboro while picking up eight assists opposed to the Trojans' seven.
But the Warriors' 16 mistakes were instrumental in spotting Hillsboro 17 points off mistakes.
Marion hit another scoring lapse after Clayton Chamberland hit the back end of a two shot foul with 4:30 left in the first half.
The quicker Trojan defense limited Marion to just 3 for 16 shooting in the second quarter, yielding the Warriors a cold 6 for 26 in shooting through the first half.
Jason Matz finished second in scoring to Vogel with eight, picking up the final four points of the first half for Marion off follows to trim the Hillsboro lead to 33-17.
Marion opened the second half, scoring four unanswered points with Vogel adding five more to his nine through three quarters.
Hillsboro then went on to outscore the Warriors, 17-7 to jump in front and start the fourth quarter, 50-29.
The Warriors got a spark off the bench late in the game from Tyler Smith.
Smith and Bina each finished tied for third in scoring with six a piece. Smith scored six consecutive points, including two off an offensive rebound.
The Warriors had trouble executing early on, and were down 16 at the half. However, the team rallied and played even ball the rest of the game, Ostmeyer said.
"I don't believe Hillsboro is a team that's 20-points better than us," Ostmeyer said. "When we meet them later on we can do some things that will give them a little more run for their money."
Alan Vogel led team scoring for the Warriors with 14 points.
"He's our big kid inside," Ostmeyer said. "They couldn't really stop him."
Mitch Enos garnered the Warriors' defensive player of the game award.
"Mitch did a good job of stopping his guys when he was on the floor," the coach commented.
Ostmeyer said the Warriors gave some things away during the game including lay-ups, and several turn-overs the Trojans were able to use to their advantage.
"If we're executing better, the teams are going to look a lot more even," Ostmeyer said. "But they have a couple of outside players who hurt us with shots and drives to the basket.
"And we missed some shots we should have made," he added.
In field goals, the Warriors were 16 for 47. In free throws, the boys were 14 for 24.
The Marion boys met Inman here Tuesday, part of the Inman Tournament which continues Thursday and Friday. Marion faces St. John Thursday, then Burrton Friday with both games slated for 5:30 p.m.
"The teams we'll be playing there are all ranked," Ostmeyer said. "If we come out, play well and clean up the mistakes we made the first night, we should do OK."
MARION - 46, HILLSBORO - 67
Marion 15 2 12 17 46
Hillsboro 6 27 17 17 67
Points — Alan Vogel, 14; Jason Matz, 8; Brian Bina, 6; Tyler Smith, 6; Jared Hett, 5; Joel Versch,2; Nicholas Hett, 2; Tyler Stubenhoffer, 2; Clayton Chamberland, 1.
Rebounds — Vogel, 5; Bina, 4; Enos, 4; Matz, 4.
Steals — J. Hett, 2; Versch, 1.
