Lady Wildcats finish strong to beat Massac

CARBONDALE -- It seemed like the proverbial battery was almost out of juice for the Marion High School girls basketball team, but then Lauryn Kadela provided a cable jumper.
Kadela's banked-in shot from the top of the key started a 12-point run by the Lady Wildcats that lifted Marion to a 48-41 victory over Massac County in the final session of the Carbondale Mid-Winter Classic.
Marion, which lost to the same Massac squad by 32 points in the season opener, improved to 10-14 and finished 2-1 in the tournament.
The Lady Cats were trailing 38-33 when Kadela jumped at the top of the arc and dropped in a 3-pointer off the backboard. Daishen Wolaver followed with her own trey to put Marion in front to stay.
"We kind of got a little stagnant in the second half in our offense and then Kadela puts in that 3 and that kind of spark plugged us," said Marion coach Mike Manfredo. "Next thing you know we make three or four in a row and hit some free throws and it's over."
Wolaver hit another jumper and Kadela scored again with 1:05 left off a nifty pass from Wolaver to make it 43-38. McKenzie Orange came up with a steal and Jackie Drury capped the 12-0 run with a pair of free throws with 40.4 seconds left.
Marion actually closed the game on a 15-3 counting three foul shots from Kadela after Farrah Castleman stopped the initial run with a 3-pointer.
Kadela finished with 21 points, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter. Wolaver had 10, Orange tallied eight and Drury had six.
Manfredo credited the defensive job of Jordan Turner and Wolaver in a triangle-and-two defense installed just for the rematch with the Lady Patriots.
"We were trying to offset their two main offensive threats and Turner and Wolaver did an excellent job on the two they were guarding," Manfredo said. "They did a super job. It took away some of their offense but Daishen was able to pull away there at the end."
On Thursday night, Marion knocked off a good Chester squad, 44-37. Orange led the way with 15 points, including six in the final minutes. Margaux Bruce had eight points and both Turner and Kadela had six.
Marion plays at home Tuesday night against Centralia.