4 pre-break wins Marion’s best in years
Staff writers
Marion
The Warriors dominated Douglass with a commanding 54-22 victory Thursday.
It’s been 13 years since the Marion basketball team had four victories before Christmas. The Warriors are 4-2 heading into the break.
Cooper Bailey led the team in scoring Thursday with 12 points and four steals.
Jackson Howard crashed the boards on offense and defense for eight rebounds.
Only two players out of 11 who didn’t make at least one basket. Jordy Raymer and Isaac Wesner each saw less than 60 seconds of playing time.
‘We played really well collectively as a group,” coach Donald Raymer said. “We were able to defend man-to-man and were able to practice our 1-3-1 zone. Each was effective and beneficial to the team’s success Thursday night.
“We are clearing the boards defensively and really limiting the other team’s second chance points.”
The Warriors will make their return from holiday break Jan. 2, facing Bennington on the road.
“League play starts after Christmas, and we see two of the top teams in the class 2A right away, so we have some work to do,” Raymer said.
Goessel
The Goessel boys jumped out to a 9-3 lead Friday and led Rural Vista at the end of one quarter 14-12, but an explosion of points in the second quarter by the Heat put the Bluebirds in a 34-25 deficit at halftime.
With a defender on leading scorer Noah Schrag, Goessel struggled to cut into the lead and trailed at the end of three quarters, 50-39.
“Guys played hard,” coach Curtis Guhr said. “Super proud of our fight and the never quit attitude.”
Goessel cut into the Rural Vista’s lead, getting within six points but in the end lost, 62-55. The Bluebirds missed 11 free-throws in the game.
Noah Schrag notched 17 points to lead the Bluebirds Koy Smith and Javin Schmidt recorded their best games of the season scoring 15 and 13 points respectively.
The Goessel boys are now 0-1 in league play and 2-3 overall. Goessel will return from break Jan. 5 to play on the road against Solomon.
Hillsboro
The Trojans were unable to close the gap in the end, losing 62-50 Friday against Southeast of Saline.
Lincoln Wichert led the team on offense with 16 points and six assists. Seth Driggers scored 10, and Wyatt Plenert scored nine.
Noah Beavers pulled down four offensive rebounds and five defensive rebounds.
“We started the game pretty flat,” coach Kyle Kroeker said. “We were able to turn it around and compete well against an athletic team but we came up short. It comes down to being more consistent throughout the game.”
The Trojans will play host for their second home game of the season Jan. 2 against Hutch Trinity.
Centre
The Cougars were unable to defeat Canton-Galva on Friday, losing 53-38.
Centre will return home Jan. 5 to play Wakefield.
Peabody-Burns
The Warriors lost to Herington at home Friday in a high scoring contest, 74-46.
Peabody-Burns will play Little River Jan. 5.