Riders rally to defeat Flyers

ST. MARYS - Neither Marion Local nor St. Marys could miss much in the first half.

But in the third quarter, the Flyers couldn't buy a bucket while the Roughriders made just enough to take the lead.

St. Marys outscored Marion 11-1 in the third quarter to take the lead and then held off a late Flyer charge for a 49-44 win in Grand Lake area girls' basketball action at Murotech Court.

Both teams shot 50 percent or better from the field in the first half, but Flyer sophomore Kelsey Koenig hit a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter and Emily Nietfeld buried a trey in the second quarter to help the Flyers take a 28-26 halftime lead.

"(Koenig) came out of nowhere and hit all kinds of threes," St. Marys coach Jonathan Burke said. "That put some pressure on our defense (because) from the scouting report, we didn't see a lot of threes."

The teams switched ends of the court for the third quarter, but the hot shooting did not follow Marion as the Flyers went over 5 1/2 minutes without a points before Alaina Pohlman hit a free throw with 2:21 left. During that stretch, Makenna Mele scored six points and Jill Schmitmeyer added a bucket to put the Roughriders in front 34-29. Sydney Cisco, who had struggled with her outside touch in the first half, closed out the period with a three-pointer just before the buzzer to give St. Marys a 37-29 lead going to the fourth quarter.

"We got a little stagnant on offense trying to get the ball inside," Flyers coach Beth Streib said. "We had stupid passes where we forced things. We try and tell them we don't have to force things."

The Roughriders kept adding to the lead early as Mele hit a pair of free throws and Sydney Cisco buried another trey to make the score 42-29 with just over 90 seconds elapsed from the clock. Koenig ended the dry spell with a basket and Kara Evers converted the old-fashioned three-point play.

The tide began to turn on St. Marys after a Lauren Cisco stickback with 4:25 remaining made the score 46-34. Evers scored five straight points for the Flyers to quickly cut the deficit to 46-39, forcing Burke to call a timeout. After the break, Koenig hit another three-pointer to get Marion to within four with 2:13 left to play. Neither team could score over the next 90 seconds before Sydney Cisco was fouled with 43.9 seconds left. Sydney Cisco missed, but Jill Schmitmeyer got the rebound and passed back to Sydney Cisco, who was fouled again. This time, the senior made one free throw to make the score 47-42. Evers got the bucket to go with 25 seconds left to get the Flyers within three again at 47-44, but Sydney Cisco made two free throws with 6.7 seconds left to ice the game.

"Marion made a nice run at us in the fourth," Burke said. "I'm proud of our girls. If this were a game earlier in the season, we could have dropped easily. We've come a long way keeping our control and poise at the end of a game."

"It's been the story all year," Streib said. "We dig ourselves a hole, but we never get out. We keep fighting. One of these days we'll learn you can't get down and get into a hole. It's easier to come back from six than from 12."

Lauren Cisco and Mele each had 16 points to lead St. Marys (8-8). Mele added six rebounds before she fouled out with 1:20 left. Sydney Cisco added 12.

Koenig finished with 16 points to lead Marion (4-11). Evers added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Both teams are home for league play on Thursday. St. Marys hosts Elida in WBL play and Marion Local plays host to state-ranked Fort Recovery.