MORAN — Marmaton Valley High’s boys came up short of victory Friday, but continued to show the promise of a young team taking steps to success.
The Wildcats led 11-7 at halftime before visiting St. Paul turned on the jets with a 20-point third quarter to take a 27-20 lead.
The Indians then held Marmaton Valley at bay down the stretch in a 41-34 victory.
The Wildcats were given another sterling performance from junior Quincy Adams, who scored 24 points with nine rebounds.
“We played with a tremendous amount of heart tonight and left it all on the floor,” Marmaton Valley head coach Gavin Cole said. “The first half was the best we have played defensively all year and we had some guys have to step up and play big minutes for long stretches because of foul problems.”
Robbie Cook added six points and Dylan Drake four. Evan Kent and Bryce Ensminger added eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
“We still need to work on maintaining our focus and execution for a full game,” Cole said.
IN GIRLS action, the Wildcats were done in by cold starts to both the first and second halves in a 41-28 defeat.
Marmaton Valley trailed 14-7 after one quarter and 23-18 at halftime. The Indians then outscored MV 8-1 in the third period to take control.
Janae Granere and Aly Ard shared high scoring honors for the Wildcats with nine points each.
Marmaton Valley travels to Lebo Tuesday.
Girls
St. Paul 14-9-8-11—42): K. Doherty 0-0-1-0, E. Doherty 0-0-4-0, Albertini 2-0-4-4, Harris 5-3-4-13, Seme 2-0-3-4, Bradshaw 0-0-2-0, Struthers 7-0-1-14. TOTALS: 19-4-18-42.
Marmaton Valley (7-11-1-9—28): Newman 1-0-0-2, K. Ard 1-1-4-3, A. Ard 4-1-3-9, Granere 3-3-2-9, Becker 0-5-3-5. Totals: 9-12-14-28.
Boys
St. Paul (5-2-20-14—41) (FG/3pt): Beachner 0-1-3-1, Peters 2-5-3-9, Wiatrak 1/1-1-4-6, V. Smith 1-0-3-2, Paulie 2-0-1-4, Murillo 1/1-1-2-6, Norris 3-1-4-7, O’Hara 3-0-4-6. TOTALS: 13/2-9-23-41.
Marmaton Valley (2-9-9-14—34) (FG/3pt): Drake 2-0-4-4, Cook 2-2-5-6, Adams 4/1-13-2-24, Ensminger 0-0-2-0, Kent 0-0-2-0, Kale 0-0-5-0. TOTALS: 8/1-15-20-34.
