DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
DECATUR – Marion jumped out to a big lead in the opening quarter and never relented against Heritage, ending the Patriots’ season in the sectional semifinal at the 3A Bellmont tournament, 77-60.
Despite outstanding contests by Landon Lybarger and Braden Walter, who finished with 12 and 14 points, respectively, the Giants, coached by James Blackmon, were simply too much for Heritage to handle.
Hoping to benefit from the bye in the tournament, Heritage seemed to enjoy little advantage from Marion having to play Bellmont on Tuesday. The Giants beat the Braves by 19 earlier in the week.
Marion’s Amar Rogers dominated the opening quarter, knocking down four threes and scoring 15 of his game-high 18 points in the first eight minutes as the Giants put 28 points on the board in front of a big and loud crowd. The highlight was a sensational dunk (see below) that showed this Marion team might just make a deep run in this year’s tournament.
Heritage cut into the Marion lead in the second quarter, but only barely and it felt like a missed opportunity to climb back into the game as the Patriots missed six free throws in the period to go into halftime down eight points.
The lead jumped back out to eleven points after the third, with Heritage able to muster just four baskets in the period.
Marion finished off the game by forcing Heritage to do their scoring at the line and not allowing the Patriots to build any momentum for a remarkable comeback. Coach Kyle Sovine’s team did much better at the line in that final stanza, knocking down 11 of 14, but they were actually outscored by the Giants in the final quarter.
Davian Bates finished with nine points for Heritage, while Lantae Cassel and Taurean Brown had eight apiece.
Lucas Taylor knocked down a pair of threes to finish with six points.
For Marion, Tim Jones finished with 17 points and JJ Smith had 16 for the Giants.
Logan Barnes was dangerous from deep range and finished with 13 points.
For Heritage and coach Sovine, it will be a much different team next year, with a core of seniors graduating this spring making up the identity of his program over his two-year spell.
Lybarger and Walter, along with Bates, all move on from the team, as does the underrated Eli Tigulis.
The 12-win season for Heritage was an improvement compared to Sovine’s first year, when the Patriots were just 9-16. A win against Bluffton at home in February would have given the team a share of the conference title with Woodlan, who were a thorn in the side of the Patriots all year long.
Follow WZBD and WZBD.com for more coverage of many of these Heritage athletes as many of them figure very prominently into the various spring sports at Heritage Jr./Sr. High School.
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