Wildcats sweep weekend action with three wins in five days
MARION - The Marion High School boys basketball team picked up a weekend sweep, stayed tied for first place in the South Seven Conference, and won three games in five days during a busy week on the hardwood.
The Wildcat weekend included a 43-39 South Seven Conference in over Althoff Catholic and a 66-49 win over Mt. Carmel at the Rich Herrin Classic Shootout.
Friday night, Jackson Connor's low post basket with less than a minute left put the Wildcats ahead for good in their game against the Crusaders at 40-39, then Brett Lewis and Frankie Horner combined to make three out of four free throws to help Marion hang on for the win.
Connor finished with a game-high 22 points, who also got eight from Lewis and seven from Rayzhaun Bardo. Daulton Burgner scored 11 to lead the Crusaders. Jack Bruening, Will Ache and Ty Beasley scored eight points each.
"I told the kids, I don't know the last time Marion's been in the spot this late in the season in February," said head coach Gus Gillespie. "So that's an accomplishment."
Marion controls its own destiny in the South Seven Conference, wrapping up the conference season with home games against Carbondale and Mt. Venron and a road game in between with Centralia. If the Wildcats can win out, they will claim their first South Seven crown since 1987-88.
Saturday, Marion led 17-13 after one quarter, then outscored Mt. Carmel 18-9 in the second period and never looked back in handling the Golden Aces.
Connor scored a game-high 29 points while Bardo added 15 and Venson Newsom 12 for Marion in the win. Each took turns leading the Wildcats offensively against a series of gimmicks by the Golden Aces.
Marion used a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. During the outburst, Newsom had six points and Connor netted seven including an alley-up dunk on a pass from Bardo on a fast-break, set up by a steal from Newsom.
Kaleb Applebey scored 18 points for the Golden Aces, who also got 12 from Beau Stipp.
Marion is back in action tonight with a nonconference road game at Murphysboro.
• Tim Petrowich is the publisher of Dateline Marion. You can find Dateline Marion online at www.datelinemarion.com