By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
ELYRIA – The Elyria Christian girls hosted Marion on Friday on senior night and despite some foul troubles by key players, the Lady Eagles held off the visitors enough to record a five-point, 42-37 victory.
The win gives the Lady Eagles a 12-6 mark for the season as they now prep to go on the road Tuesday to Berean Academy.
“This was a great win for our seniors as they were recognized on their final home game,” noted Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “Marion is a much-improved team that is well coached. They play in a very tough league, so their record is deceiving. They had us down early, and I was proud of the way our girls battled back in the first quarter and didn’t panic.”
After trailing very early in the game, the Lady Eagles bounced back to tie the game up at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter before gaining a three-point, 18-15 lead heading into the halftime break thanks to a three-pointer made by Olivia Clark at the buzzer.
After pulling out to an eight-point, 31-23, advantage by the end of the third quarter, Elyria allowed Marion to chip a few points off the lead before holding on for the final five-point win despite having three starters in deep foul trouble.
Ryland Hawkinson had a huge game as she led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 16 while grabbing seven rebounds, making four steals and most important, being disruptive on defense as she recorded 10 pass deflections.
Kylee Penner also reached double digits in the scorebook for Elyria with 12 points and she also pulled down seven rebounds as well.
Coach Fields concluded some post-game reflections by adding, “Ryland (Hawkinson) had another solid game on both offense and defense as she was very disruptive at the top of our 1-3-1 defense. Kylee (Penner) shot 72% from the field tonight while Olivia (Clark) really played smart basketball all night.”
SCORING: 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Marion 7 8 8 14 37
LADY EAGLES 7 11 13 11 42
Marion Team Stats: FG 11/41 (27%); 3-PTR 4/18 (22%); FT 11/18 (61%); AST 0; REBS 25; TO 16; STLS 10; BLK 2; PF 13.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES TEAM STATS: FG 16/42 (38%); 3-PTR 3/14 (21%); FT 7/13 (54%); AST 9; REBS 28; TO 19; STLS 9; BLK 1; PF 17.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: SCORING (42 total points): Ryland Hawkinson – 16; Kylee Penner – 12; Alexus Swenson – 3; KiLynn Starburg – 3; Allie Stone – 3; Olivia Clark – 3; Julia Allen – 2. 3-POINTERS MADE (3): Swenson, Stone, Clark – 1. ASSISTS: Stone – 3; Swenson, Starburg, Clark – 2. REBOUNDS: Hawkinson, Penner – 7; Swenson – 5; Stone, Clark – 3; Starburg – 2. STEALS: Hawkinson – 4; Swenson – 2. BLOCKED SHOTS: Penner – 1.