ELYRIA GIRLS STUMBLE, LOSE BY 3 TO MARION

Finish 13-7, Ranked #9 in Class 1A Division II

By Staff

ELYRIA – It was a tough way to finish and amazing season for the Elyria Christian girls as they played host to Marion to close out the 2023-24 regular season and lost by three, 24-27.

When you finish the season 13-7, many are just humbled, but for the Lady Eagles it was amazing as they started the season losing four straight games but finished out going 13-3 including a 10-game win streak at one point and made third seed for sub-state.

At sub-state hosted by Lebo. Elyria will be the third seed in sub-state and begin play at home on Friday, February 23 when they play Peabody/Burns who is 1-15 for the season. The Lady Eagles beat Peabody/Burns 42-3 on February 5. If they win, they will play second seed Hutchinson Central Christian who has a first game bye.

Against Marion, the Lady Eagles fell behind by four, 8-12, by the end of the first quarter but tied the game up at 18-18 heading into the halftime break. After falling behind by three by the  end of the third quarter, 20-23, Elyria could not catch up and lost by three.

“This was a tough loss tonight to a good Marion team,” pointed out Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “I knew it would be hard to beat this team twice as it was a battle at the Centre Tournament championship. Neither team shot the ball well and Marion just made a couple of extra plays to get the win.”

Grace Prescott led the team in scoring with 11 while Makenna Cass pulled down eight rebounds. The Lady Eagles missed all eleven shots from three-point range.

Coach Fields closed out his post-game reflections by saying, “We were able to honor the three seniors tonight. Hannah (Bower) started tonight, and she did a great job as she also played several minutes in the first half due to Joy (Pyle) getting in some early foul trouble and illness left us short another player. Hannah responded by getting some big rebounds early and scoring on a ball reversal. She has been an ideal teammate. Julia (Allen) was also solid as she showed her toughness by playing the entire game after being home sick most of the week. Makenna (Cass) also had one of her best games and led the team in rebounds.”

Talking about the upcoming sub-state play, coach Fields added, “We will host Peabody/Burns next Friday in our first-round game. I am thankful that our seniors have a chance to get another opportunity to get a win for the home crowd.”

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES hosting Marion on Friday

SCORING > Lady Eagles lost 24-27 (13-7, ranked #9 in Class 1A Division II)

Lady Eagles > 8-10-2-4 = 24; Marion > 12-6-5-4 = 27.

TEAM STATS >

Lady Eagles > 2-FGs = 9/21; FTs = 6/10; 3-PTs = 0/11; ASTs = 5; REBs = 23 (6-17); STLs = 10; BLKs = 3; TOs = 19; FLs = 13.

Marion > 2-FGs = 8/18; FTs = 5/9; 3-PTs = 2/19; ASTs = n/a; REBs = 25 (10/15); STLs = 13; BLKs = 7; TOs = 17; FLs = 12.

LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS >

Scoring (24) > Grace Prescott – 11; Makenna Cass – 5; Joy Pyle – 4; Addison Swenson – 2; Hannah Bower – 2.

Assists (5) > Julia Allen – 2; Prescott/Cass/Pyle – 1.

Rebounds (23) > Cass – 8; Pyle – 4; Prescott/Swenson/Bower – 3; Allen – 2.

Steals (10) > Prescott/Swenson – 3; Pyle – 2; Cass/Allen – 1.

Blocked Shots (3) > Cass/Pyle/Allen – 1.