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Marion Local's Avae Unrast puts up an acrobatic shot past St. Marys' Sophia Menker.
ST. MARYS - Try as Marion Local might, St. Marys wasn't leaving its home floor without the win.
Ella Jacobs' steal and basket with 25 seconds remaining broke a 45-all tie and the Roughriders held on to beat the Division IV state-ranked Flyers 48-45 on Tuesday night at Grand Lake Health Systems Court.
After St. Marys (8-7) went up nine early in the first quarter, Marion Local battled back to force four ties and four lead changes for the remainder of the game. Neither team could get more than a possession's lead for most of the second half.
"We got out to a nice start and they were crushing us on the glass," said St. Marys coach Scott Jordan. "That was killing us early, and we made a conscious effort to do better in the second half."
The Roughriders had a chance to put some distance between them and the Flyers in the first quarter with a 10-0 run as Syerra Greber, Jacobs and Ashlie Nuss came up with big points to go up 15-6 with time winding down, but Marion gained momentum when Allison Dirksen beat the buzzer to cut it to 15-8.
Marion then kept up the pressure and gained a tie at 19-all on a pair of Kate Ashman free throws. St. Marys bounced back as Jacobs broke the tie, then Reagan Allemeier hit a 3-pointer to help the Riders go to the half leading 26-22.
Marion Local's Mya Eckstein (22) tries to get past St. Marys' Reagan Allemeier for a basket.
St. Marys was 12-of-18 from the floor in the first half, but did not go to the foul line. Marion, on the other hand, was 8-of-10 from the charity stripe.
"We talked about consistency after the game," said Marion Local coach Beth Streib. "We got some ball pressure in the second quarter and were able to create some turnovers to get some offense. We just have to do it more consistently."
The Flyers started out the second half strong as Audrey Winner hit back-to-back buckets to tie the game, then Avae Unrast gave Marion its first lead since the first quarter on a bucket with 4 1/2 minutes to play in the third quarter. St. Marys wasn't in the mood to back down, though, and Reese Rable hit a 3-pointer 45 seconds later to put the Roughriders back in front 29-28.
St. Marys' Reese Rable (14) goes up for a layup during Tuesday's game with Marion Local at Grand Lake Health Systems Court. The Roughriders held off the state-ranked Flyers for the 48-45 victory.
Marion spent the rest of the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter trying to get a tie or a lead, but every chance the Flyers had, St. Marys came up with a key bucket.
St. Marys led 36-30 with under 30 seconds to play in the third quarter, but Nora Eckstein beat the horn with a trey to cut it to 36-33 with a quarter to play. Dirksen started the fourth quarter with a bucket to get Marion to within one, but St. Marys found a way to get a little breathing room as the margin stayed between one and three points.
"I was telling them 'We're right here,' " said Jordan. "Either way, it's a one-possession game. Don't panic."
Jacobs hit a free throw to make it 45-43 with 1:39 remaining, but the Flyers came down and got fouled, with Dirksen calmly sinking both tosses with 1:22 to play to tie the game at 45-all. St. Marys missed a shot on its next possession, but Jacobs got a steal and went to the hoop for a layup to make it 47-45 with 25 seconds to play.
The Flyers missed a 3-pointer, and Sophia Menker got the rebound and was fouled with 9.6 seconds left. Menker missed the first free throw, but made the second to force the Flyers to try for a trey to tie. After a flurry of timeouts for both teams, Marion tried to get the ball outside the arc, but the pass went out of bounds, allowing St. Marys to calmly run out the remaining seconds for the win.
"We were able to make the shots when they counted," said Jordan. "Proud of (the team)."
"At the end, it came down to them executing a little bit better offensively than we did," said Streib. "Things we talked about defensively we didn't execute. You have to give them credit. They were disciplined and controlled what they wanted to do."
Rable finished with a game-high 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting - including 4-of-5 from 3-point land. Jacobs added 11 points.
Dirksen had a big night to finish with 16 points for the Flyers (11-5). Unrast scored nine.
Both teams are in league play on Thursday. St. Marys hosts Shawnee in Western Buckeye League action while Marion travels to Fort Site Fieldhouse to take on Fort Recovery.
