By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Marion boys captured their fifth win in a row Friday, with a 67-60 victory over Sterling.

The Warriors started on the right foot, as a 20-11 first quarter provided the edge needed to keep them in front the rest of the game.

Sterling stayed tight from there, cutting Marion’s lead to 47-45 by the end of the third quarter.

Faced with the possibility of a fourth quarter collapse, the boys instead secured the win with a 20-15 quarter.

The girls had an uphill battle from start to finish, as they fell 67-18 to the sixth-ranked team in Class 2A.

The Warriors had two more points in the first half, but their defense was much better in the second half. Despite being down 38-10 through two quarters, Marion held the Black Bears to 29 in the second half.

Despite coming off a tough loss, the Warriors might be heading into their best scenario of the season. The team gets a week of rest, facing Ell-Saline Friday at the Sports Aquatics Center.

The next game for the boys team is also Friday against Ell-Saline at the aquatics center.

Boys

The Warriors put on a showcase in efficiency, going 6-of-14 on 3-pointers and 17-of-20 from the charity stripe.

Turnovers have been a problem throughout the season, but that was not the case Friday. Against the Black Bears, Marion limited themselves to 12 turnovers, but raised their assists to 15.

The Warriors snagged 10 offensive and 20 defensive rebounds, while giving up 20 total rebounds to Sterling. Crashing the glass has been a strong point for Marion all season, and the team had another game of spreading the love. Six players recorded rebounds, and each of them had at least three.

Scoring summary: Stringer, 16 points, 9 rebounds; Noah Dalrymple, 15; Sam Zinn, 15, 9 assists; Eli Hett 13; Evann Heidebrecht, 6; Jaxton Tracy, 2.

Girls

The bright spot in Marion’s game was that it showed players contributing on a consistent basis.

No player managed five points, but seven players got on the scoring sheet, and Chloe Burkholder, Jaden Slifer, and Maria Stuchlik tied for the team-lead with three points.

Marion plays competitively at times, but the young team struggles repeatedly with stopping the opposing top scorers.

Friday was no exception, as Sterling’s top scorer tallied 16 points, and another had 14. Remove those two from the equation, and Sterling had 37 points between nine players.

Scoring summary: Chloe Burkholder, 3; Jaden Slifer, 3; Maria Stuchlik, 3; Corinna Crabb, 2; Jayden May, 2; Chisolm Waner, 2; Cameron White, 2; Megan Neufeld, 1.