Senior Boston Ziegler scored 26 points and teammate Jackson Connor dropped in 16 as Marion used its size and strength to pick up a 66-33 win over Harrisburg Saturday evening.
Ziegler scored 15 of his game-high total in the third quarter when the Bulldogs managed just seven points as a team.
"He was getting to the rim and Connor played a pretty good second quarter and then the three there at the quarter, but here's the deal," said Marion coach Gus Gillespie. "You've got to come and play hard every night. Our kids played hard tonight and were able to take care of business on the road."
Sophomore Andrew Bittle paced the Bulldogs (4-11) with 10 points. Harrisburg got eight points from senior Will Sanders and seven from sophomore Jesse Lawler.
"We can't get shots to fall, and I'm not sure that's something we can fix right now," said Harrisburg coach Randy Smithpeters. "That's kind of what we are. The thing that we have to work at is execution to get better shots. We also have to cut down on turnovers."
The Wildcats (9-8) ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run and led 20-8 after one period.
Marion would then outscore Harrisburg 11-5 over the first four minutes of the second stanza to extend its lead to 31-15 midway through the quarter.
"You know Marion is going to press. You know it's probably going to be their zone press," said Smithpeters. "When we did the right things against that, we got good things out of that, but it's just like I told the team, we can't do good things 2 times out of 10 or 3 times out of 10 and expect the results to be what we'd like them to be."
Nine different players scored for the Wildcats who were able to avenge an overtime loss to Harrisburg last winter.
On Friday, the Bulldogs remained winless in SIRR Ohio action after suffering a 58-34 setback at Murphysboro.
Jesse Lawler scored 11 points for HHS. Will Gibbs added nine points and Will Sanders scored six. Zayne Hayes dropped in five points for the Bulldogs while Andrew Bittle scored two and Brannden Watson scored one point.
Harrisburg will host Herrin on Friday night before opening play at the Carmi-White County Invitational against the hosts on Monday, January 14.
Marion 66 Harrisburg 33
Marion 20 18 19 19 - 66
Harrisburg 8 9 7 9 - 33
Marion (66): Ziegler 12 1-3 26, Houston 1 0-0 2, Lewis 2 2-2 6, Cook 1 0-0 2, Bierman 1 0-0 2, Horner 3 0-0 7, Connor 6 3-4 16, Newsom 1 0-0 3, Cameron 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 6-9 66.
Harrisburg (33): Hayes 1 0-0 2, Sanders 3 2-2 8, Lawler 3 0-0 7, Bittle 2 5-6 10, Phalin 2 0-0 4, Watson 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 7-8 33.
3-pointers: Marion 4 (Ziegler, Horner, Connor, Newsom), Harrisburg 2 (Lawler, Bittle). Team Fouls: Marion 13, Harrisburg 8. Records: Marion is 9-8, Harrisburg is 4-11.
