Lady Wildcats take down Hawks

JUNCTION - Maegan Dillon came off the bench and dropped a game-high 13 points to lead the Marion High School girls basketball team to a 45-27 win over Gallatin County on Monday night.

Daishen Wolaver added 10 points for the Lady Wildcats, who improved to 3-8 with the non-conference victory.

Gracie Sauls led Gallatin County with 11 points; Sauls fouled out with 1:39 remaining. Audrey Jackson had eight points.

Marion jumped out to a 7-0 lead after layups from Wolaver and Lauryn Kadela combined with a free throw by McKenzie Orange.

Hallie Zirkelbach's 3-pointer broke the drought for the Lady Hawks and a layup from Sauls made it 8-5 after a free throw from Marion's Quinisha Emanuel.

Baskets from Emanuel and Wolaver pushed Marion's lead to 12-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Jackson netted a 3-pointer for the first points of the second period, but then Dillon entered the game and scored consecutive baskets to start a 10-0 run by the Lady Wildcats.

Freshmen Grace Connor and Margaux Bruce also provided points in the run, which was capped by a layup from Orange that made it 22-8 with 15 seconds left before the break.

A pair of free throws from Jackson cut the margin to 22-10 going into halftime.

Sauls put in a pair of layups early in the third quarter but then Dillon scored six points and Wolaver scooped in a shot to push the lead to 31-15 going into the final frame.

Marion's lead reached its biggest point at 43-19 following shots from Robyn Thomas and Bruce in the fourth quarter.

Marion has two non-conference home games coming up against Murphysboro on Thursday and Du Quoin this Saturday.