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VERSAILLES - New Bremen and Marion Local both gave up early runs in the first annual Lady Tiger Classic in Versailles on Monday and saw their attempts to rally fall short.
Marion went down 19 to Waynesville and couldn't come all the way back in a 45-40 loss. Earlier in the day, New Bremen gave up a 10-0 first quarter run and trailed from there, getting within two points in the fourth before Wilmington closed out a 36-29 win.
New Bremen and Marion play Thursday in a Midwest Athletic Conference girls basketball game at the Hangar.
Marion Local's Nora Eckstein takes a shot as Waynesville's Caroline Stupp (left) and Tori See defend during the Lady Tiger Classic at Tiger Gymnasium on Monday.
The Spartans came in 14-0 and have surpassed 60 points eight times, including an 82-31 win over Carlisle and an 85-16 win over Eaton.
Early on, it seemed like they would roll over the Flyers as well. The Flyers had seven turnovers and shot 1-for-9 in the first quarter, and five minutes into the second, Emme Greely got a hoop-and-harm to put Waynesville up 22-7.
Marion (11-3) only mustered three free throws but started to slow the Spartans down, and the Flyers went into the break down 14.
"First half, we were out of sync, just in everything," Marion Local coach Beth Streib said. "Shots weren't falling, passing was off. Our defense wasn't hateful, because we held them to 20-some points, but we just couldn't get anything going offensively."
In the first 93 seconds of the third, Avery Whitaker hit a 3-pointer and Greely added another layup to make it 29-10. But then Marion started chipping away.
Avae Unrast scored off a turnover, Mya Eckstein had an old-fashioned 3-point play, Kate Ashman hit a jump shot and Nora Eckstein added a layup to make it a 10-point game with 3:22 to play in the third.
"We just talked at halftime how, 'We've got to cut a lot harder,' " Streib said. " 'Yeah, they're playing physical, but we've got to be able to match their physicality.' "
Down 12 with five minutes left, the Flyers made their last push. Unrast hit their first and only three, Nora Eckstein got another layup and Mya Eckstein added two buckets, and it was 40-36 with 2:11 to go.
After the Spartans drained a minute off the clock, Caroline Stupp was fouled and hit one free throw. Unrast got a floater to fall to make it 41-38 with 43.7 seconds left, but the Flyers had to keep fouling, and Maggie Stephensen and Katie Berrey went 4-for-4 from the line to make sure Marion never got to take a tying shot.
"Waynesville's a good team, they knocked down free throws when they needed to, and they took care of the ball," Streib said. "That was probably the difference in the game, turnovers."
Marion committed 23 turnovers and forced 16.
Unrast scored 14 points and Mya Eckstein added 13, with six rebounds apiece. Berrey, who was named the MVP of the game, led Waynesville with 13 points.
Up 5-2, the Cardinals gave up four straight layups and a pair of free throws, putting the Hurricanes in control.
Chloe Homan and Michaela Firks got layups in the final minute of the first quarter to get New Bremen (6-7) back within three, but the Cardinals never fully recovered.
"We lacked some energy in the first half," New Bremen coach Andy Timmerman said. "I feel like that's what got us behind a little bit. Didn't finish things at the basket, didn't play very physical."
Wilmington's Miya Nance draws a charge against New Bremen's Marina Nelson in the third quarter.
Trailing 12-10 most of the second quarter, New Bremen missed three shots and had four turnovers before Brynn Conley got a layup to give Wilmington (8-6) breathing room. After a Marina Nelson trey brought them within 20-17 in the third, the Cardinals were called for a charge and missed a three before Conley answered with a three of her own.
Mary Rindler got two looks to tie it up with a minute left in the third, but both missed. Chloe Homan hit a hook shot to get within 29-27 midway through the fourth, but the Cardinals turned it over twice, and Miya Nance turned the second into a breakaway layup to stave them off again.
The Cardinals had one last chance down 32-29 with 1:13 left, but Rindler's jump shot missed and went out of bounds off New Bremen, and the Hurricanes went 4-for-4 from the line to put it away.
All told, the Cardinals took nine more shots than Wilmington and got 14 offensive rebounds, but couldn't overcome ice-cold shooting. They went 18% from the floor and 16% beyond the arc.
"I would say most of the time, it was just a lid on the basket," Timmerman said. "For the most part, we took pretty good shots, and we got a lot of shots. We just didn't capitalize on them."
Homan had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Elle Martin, who was named the MVP of the game, scored 12 for Wilmington.
