By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Thursday was full of good fortune for the Marion Warriors, as the boys and girls each closed the Cougar Classic with a win.

The boys came in as the four-seed, but won all their games, eventually defeating Elyria Christian 47-36 in the championship. The Warriors locked down Rural Vista 55-46 the day before as well. Marion stifled opponents in all three games, holding teams to 39.3 points per game.

Following their single-digit loss to Solomon Tuesday, the girls took another close defeat against Wakefield on Jan. 16. Marion lost that game 26-20, but closed the tournament Thursday with a resounding 67-22 win over Peabody-Burns.

Boys

The Eagles had no answer for Noah Dalrymple on Thursday, as he made 7 of 10 shots, 8 of 9 free throws, and recorded a double-double to lead Marion to victory.

The game flew at a torrid pace, which led to both teams struggling with turnovers. The Warriors committed 15 turnovers, but had seven steals of their own.

However, speeding up as much as possible was part of Marion’s game plan, coach Terry Edwards said.

“Let’s make people run up and down the floor with us,” he said. “It fits our mindset, we’re not a slow down, get set offense. We’re going to turn the ball over if we don’t shoot it quickly.”

The Warriors’ results from Wednesday and Thursday’s games were consistent. They got to the free throw line and forced opponents to miss scoring opportunities.

Against Elyria Christian, that meant forcing errant shots as a defense then outrebounding. Marion had 26 defensive rebounds, and gave a lone offensive rebound to the Eagles.

In the semifinals, Marion dominated on the glass, going +10 in rebounds, but the catalyst was turnovers. The Warriors had 17 steals in their win over Rural Vista.

Scoring summary — Dalrymple, 20 points, 14 rebounds; Chase Stringer, 11, 8; Evann Heidebrecht, 5, 6; Jaxton Tracy, 5 points; Sam Zinn, 4 points.

Girls

The girls game Thursday was the Warriors’ best offensive showing of the season, more than doubling their point-total from the previous game against Peabody-Burns.

Marion scored more than 10 points in each quarter, while the team held Peabody-Burns to 3 points total in the second half.

Peabody-Burns managed 19 points in the first half, but Marion put the game away for good with an 18-0 third quarter.

It was a balanced game, with 11 Marion players registering points, and seven of them scored at least five points.

The day before against Wakefield was a defensive battle. The Warriors ended the first half down three in a 13-10 dogfight, and the score was duplicated in the second half.

The difference came in how those points were scored. Marion managed the only double-digit quarter, with 10 in the fourth, but it proved fruitless since the team scored none in the third.

Scoring summary — Michaela Regnier, 16 points; Chloe Burkholder, 13; Cameron White, 6; Corrina Crabb, 6; Maria Stuchlik, 6; Megan Neufeld, 6; Destiny Boudreaux, 5; Chisolm Waner, 3; Jaden Slifer, 2; Jayden May, 2; Sam Kelsey, 2.