By RANDY BRUNS
Standard Correspondent
MARIA STEIN — If the Marion Local girls basketball team
was a cat, it would be using up some of its nine lives awfully
quickly.
The Flyers survived another wretched night from the free-throw
line and somehow managed to hang on to defeat the Versailles
Tigers 42-39 at the Hangar on Tuesday night.
Marion improves to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Midwest Athletic
Conference, while Versailles falls to 3-4 on the year and 1-2
in the league.
Just as in last Thursday’s game against New Bremen, the
Flyers got to the foul line plenty of times. The problem once
again was converting, as the hosts connected on just 11-of-24
for a sickly 46-percent. The Tigers, meanwhile, were rock solid
from the stripe, hitting 13-of-17 for a sparkling 76 percent.
“We shot 50 free throws this morning and we usually shoot
at least 25 a day (in practice),” said Marion coach Treva
Fortkamp. “I really think it’s mental. You’ve
got to go up there believing you’re going to make it,
and if you don’t you’re going to miss it. We’ve
been through this two games in a row now. I’ve addressed
the problem and they’re aware of it, so maybe I should
just shut my mouth and let them not worry about it, and maybe
they’ll start making them.”
After a close battle throughout, the Flyers finally hit three
of four freebies to take a 41-36 lead with 36 seconds remaining
in the game. Jessica Foister then drilled a three-pointer for
the Tigers to draw them within two.
Maria Moeller then hit one of two from the charity stripe to
bring the lead to three, and Kara Hemmelgarn just missed a three
ball at the other end that would have tied the game. Versailles
got an offensive rebound and called a timeout with 2.3 ticks
left, but (Continued from page 8)
Foister’s trey at the buzzer hit off the rim to end the
game.
The Tigers had a lead of eight points late in the second quarter,
but the Flyers scored four points at the end of the period and
the first ten in the second half to pull back ahead. The fourth
quarter was back-and-forth all the way, with six lead changes
before the Flyers went ahead for good with two minutes remaining.
“You want to take one away from them when they’re
off key, but we came up short again,” said Versailles
coach Jackie Stonebraker. “What lost us the game were
the little mental breakdowns, especially when they went on that
14-0 run. Those are the things we’ve got to correct.”
Moeller led all scorers with 19 points on the night, while Amber
Voisard paced the Tigers with 15.
Both squads get back into action Saturday, as Versailles will
visit next door neighbor Russia and Marion hosts Anna.
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