Marion High boys snap 5-game losing streak

It was mostly a successful week in basketball for Marion and Hillsboro High Schools.

Mercer heroics continue

Marion’s Braeden Mercer continued the heroics, shooting he demonstrated this week on Friday, scoring 16 points for the Warriors’ biggest win of the year, 53-36, over Ell-Saline. 

The Warriors push their record to 3-5, heading into this week’s tournament at Centre. 

While the boys have enjoyed success, girls’ coach Jason Hett and his team are still looking for ways to get on track. 

  They almost did Friday, but the Warriors tumbled to 0-6, with a pair of 7-point losses. 

    The Warriors closed the week Friday with a 36-29 home loss to Ell-Saline. 

Hillsboro boys net win

Hillsboro High’s girls team built a 31-28 lead over the Dragons heading into the final stretch, but a scoreless quarter proved too much to overcome. 

The Dragons’ 42-31 victory dashed any chance of the Trojans snapping four years of losses against Halstead. 

The loss dropped Hillsboro to 6-2 on the year, heading into this week’s unusual Trojan Classic.  The Hillsboro boys completed a perfect week at 2-0, downing the visiting Lyons Lions Friday, 53-36, for their sixth straight win to move to 6-2.  They are now ranked in the top 10 of the league.

Goessel girls lose close

The Goessel girls lost 51-54 on Friday in a tough Wheat State League contest.

The lead changed hands 10 times as the Eagles took command in the fourth quarter. Canton-Galva led by seven points with 3:32 left in the game. Elizabeth Schmucker sank two free-throws, Lyna Lehrman also hit two free-0throws to scratch their way back into the game.

Schmucker ended with 16 points, followed by Lowrance with 9 and Lehrman 8 points. Bethany Herrel added 6 points, Sawyer 4, Kaleigh Guhr 4, Rachael Zogleman 2, and Emily Flaming 2.

The Goessel girls are 3-5 overall and 0-3 in Wheat State League games. Their next game will be Friday at home with Moundridge.

Bluebirds fly to victory

As a plethora of fouls slowed the pace of the game, Goessel took advantage of cold shooting by Canton-Galva

The Bluebirds led 23-15 at half-time and extended their lead in the third quarter 38-22. Canton-Galva attempted a full court press in the fourth quarter, but the Bluebirds beat the defense for several easy baskets late in the game to capture a 58-38 win.

Skyler Wuest finished with a season high 22 points.

Senior Nate Zogleman added 11 points and Eddie Gaeddert dropped in 9 points, including 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Caiden Duerksen scored 7 points, Jacob Schrag 6 and Dawson Stutzman 3.

The Goessel boys are 6-2 overall and 3-0 in Wheat State League games. The Bluebirds will be at Burrton for a tournament game with Inman on Tuesday and will have a game on Thursday as well.