Lady Wildcats rebound for win over Vienna

MARION -- What a difference a few hours can make.
Playing a night after getting drubbed by 32 points in the season opener, the Marion High School girls basketball team rebounded both literally and figuratively Tuesday for a 36-32 victory over Vienna in the Heartland Regional Lady Cat Tip-Off Classic at Cuss Wilson Gymnasium.
"It was a much better locker room tonight," said Marion coach Mike Manfredo.
McKenzie Orange led the Lady Wildcats with 18 points, including two early baskets to help Marion push out to a 6-0 lead, and also had two key putbacks to start a huge 12-0 run in the second half.
"There aren't a lot of girls who can stop her," Manfredo said. "Vienna had two really good bigs in there and Mack battled all night. We were able to get her the ball and she finished most of the time."
Marion led 9-3 after the first quarter following Orange's third basket and was up 11-4 after Orange hit two free throws with 6:46 left in the second. But the Lady Eagles went on an 8-0 run to take the lead -- Orange was there again for a stickback to stop that spurt.
Vienna went into halftime with a 16-13 lead, but a basket from Orange and a 3-pointer from Daishen Wolaver put Marion up 18-16. Vienna was up 24-20 late in the third when the Lady Wildcats started the most important stretch of the game.
Orange tracked down a miss and put in a layup and drew a foul with 2.6 left in the third quarter and that basket started a 12-0 flurry that changed everything for the Lady Cats.
After a turnover, Orange scored another rebound basket. Jordan Turner followed that with a pair of jumpers, the first off a nice assist from Wolaver, and Orange dropped a bucket from another Wolaver pass to force Vienna to call timeout.
Turner, who also scored in the game's opening run, had six of her 10 points in the key stretch including the capper that made it 32-24 with 4:30 left.
"We were able to hold them off the glass for any putbacks and then we actually made a few shots," Manfredo said. "We ran our fast break and got a few open looks. Unlike the first night, we actually hit a few shots outside of 10 feet."
Marion had chances to make the 12-0 run even bigger but came up empty, then Vienna scored seven straight to pull within 32-31. The Lady Eagles were aided by Wolaver missing two bonus free throws, but Wolaver canned one of two with 45.7 remaining and that point proved to be crucial.
Vienna thought it had tied the game when Alyssa Jones made two free throws with 26.7 seconds on the clock, but a lane violation wiped off the second shot and Marion used a timeout to draw up a home run play.
Lauryn Kadela, who had just one point but contributed tremendous defense, was the inbounder with the length of the floor to go. The rest of the lineup included Turner, Jackie Drury and freshman Margaux Bruce.
Bruce took off on a sprint and Kadela heaved a bomb pass down the court and Bruce outran everyone for the catch and layup and Marion had breathing room with a 35-32 lead.
"We put that play in last year but two of the five kids who were in the game at the time had never actually ran it," Manfredo said. "We worked on it a couple times in practice just for a situation like that. We put Bruce back there because she's our quickest so we thought if the throw was long she'd be able to run under it.
"She did a good job, the pass was perfect, and it helped us sail that one home. It worked to perfection."
Drury blocked a shot and came down with the rebound on Vienna's ensuing possession. She was also fouled and split the free throws to make it a four-point game.
Orange grabbed her last rebound on Vienna's following trip to seal it.
Jones scored 10 points to lead Vienna, which had beat Herrin on the opening night.
In Tuesday's first game, Anna Miller scored eight points in the first quarter and seven in the fourth to lead Hamilton County to a 47-41 win over Massac County. Miller finished with 17, while Jevin Shreve had 13 and Grace Lueke had 12.
It was Hamilton County's opener after having Monday off and the result meant every other team in the tournament finished the first night with a loss on its record.
On Wednesday, Vienna takes on Massac County at 4:30 p.m., followed by Hamilton County against Herrin. Marion, which has the Wednesday session off, is scheduled to face Hamilton County on Thursday and Herrin on Friday.