Woodburn Independent Online

Unlucky No. 7: Huskies drop first league game

North Marion boys fall into first-place tie after loss to Estacada

• By: Garrett Rudolph  
• Published: 2/5/2010 5:12:34 PM

Photo By: Garrett RudolphNorth Marion senior Josh Turner led the Huskies with 12 points during their 48-41 loss to Estacada on Tuesday.

AURORA — For the first six games of the Capital Conference season, the North Marion boys basketball team had owned the fourth quarter.
 
However, on Tuesday night at North Marion High School, the fourth quarter belonged to the Estacada Rangers. Estacada (4-3 in league, 13-5 overall) overcame an eight-point deficit midway through the second half to hand North Marion (6-1, 11-7) its first league loss of the season, 48-41.
 
The Huskies opened the game on a tear, holding the Rangers without a field goal in the first quarter, and jumping out to a 16-3 lead heading into the second quarter. The Rangers began to chip away at North Marion’s lead, closing the gap to nine points entering halftime.
 
Despite being held to just six points in the third quarter, North Marion maintained its advantage until the final period. Coming out of a North Marion time-out, the Rangers stole a Husky inbounds pass and ran the length of the court for a lay-in, giving Estacada its first lead of the game, at 37-36 with 3:11 remaining.
 
From there, the Rangers closed out the game on an 11-5 run. The Huskies didn’t score a field goal in the fourth quarter until Jordan McCain hit a 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left, but by then the game was essentially out of reach.
 
The Huskies were led by 12 points by Josh Turner, followed by eight points from Adam Hayden, and seven points apiece from Kelly Christensen and Nathan Summers.
 
Although North Marion coach Tony Merrill said the Huskies’ energy was good, he said they couldn’t get into any kind of a rhythm, and said the blame falls on the coaching staff for not having the team prepared enough. He said Estacada both outplayed and out-coached North Marion on Tuesday.
 
“We need to put our guys in a position to do what we needed to do,” said Merrill. “That’s on me.”
 
On Friday, North Marion played Cascade in a contest of the league’s top two teams, but details were unavailable at press time.
 
“We just have to make sure we do a good job as coaches getting the guys ready to play, and making sure we play as hard as we can,” said Merrill. “If we do that, we at least give ourselves a chance to be successful. If we’re missing one of those two things, we’ll struggle.”

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