The Marathon girls basketball team used a fast start for the second straight night to handle a short-handed Tully team 52-36, and win the Miss Holiday Hustle Tournament Friday at Marathon High School. The Olympians outscored the Black Knights 18-4 in the opening quarter to build a lead they would not surrender.
The win was Marathon’s third straight Miss Holiday Hustle title, something head coach Beth Anne Duncan was very proud of.
“It feels awesome,” Duncan said. “It is really hard to repeat as champions, let alone a three-peat, so I was really proud of these girls for doing that. They lost two really important scorers from last year’s team, so you just never know who is going to step up. Everybody kind of did exactly what they were asked to (Friday night). I couldn’t really ask for more than that.”
Tully’s Anna Congelli scored the opening bucket of the game before Marathon got rolling. Tournament MVP Addie Oram jumpstarted the Olympians, drilling a pair of 3-pointers to give them an early 6-2 lead. Audrey Ensign scored the next six using her activity on the glass to keep possessions alive for her team. She secured another offensive rebound and found Alina Parker inside to make it 14-2. Two more free throws from Ensign and another layup from Parker closed off the 18-4 burst.
Tully responded with a 7-2 run, with Congelli accounting for five points. Oram knocked down another 3-pointer to end the run and start a 14-6 finish to the half for Marathon.
Tully made another push to start the second half, opening on an 11-3 run. Sydney Arnott compiled nine points in the run, cutting the margin to nine with a finish inside. Oram found Delaney Reilly for a deep 2-point shot, the only field goal of the quarter for Marathon, at the buzzer to extend the lead back to 11. Tully failed to get any closer than nine down the stretch, as Marathon eventually put the game away.
Ensign led Marathon with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Oram tallied 16 points with four 3-pointers, Alina Parker had eight, Cassie Forrest scored six and Haeleigh Smith and Reilly each knocked down a jumper for Marathon.
Congelli scored 15 points to lead the Black Knights, Arnott joined her double figures with 13 points, Kameryn Meaney added six and Emily Hall scored two.
Oram was named the tournament’s MVP with Ensign, Congelli, Dryden’s Guiliana Pascarella and Deposit/Hancock’s Sarah Gross rounded out the All-Tournament Team. Marathon’s Kennedy Eaton earned the ‘Miss Hustle’ award.
Marathon is hoping the tournament win can spur it forward the rest of the season.
“It’s definitely big,” Duncan said. “Last year after we won this tournament we went on a pretty hot winning streak. It’s important because we hadn’t won at home yet. So we got two back-to-back wins at home. Wins bring confidence and that’s all you can ask for.”
“It definitely gives us a lot of confidence to be able to put momentum into the rest of the season,” Oram said. “We’re finally getting into things and learning to play together, because we aren’t used to playing together. So it’s definitely helping teach us to play as a team and get the confidence we need.”
Tully, which was without guards Ella Polak and Gabby Flatt, is optimistic about what they can accomplish moving forward.
“This tournament doesn’t hurt us as far as our sectional seeding, because the Section III seeding system is only for Section III schools, so when we play Section IV schools it’s just good for us,” Russell said. “So it’s a loss, but I’m really happy with the way they battled. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. We just didn’t make any shots in the fourth quarter. We had a bunch of open threes and I said to them in the locker room, “Did I yell at any of you for shooting the ball?’ No, right, you have to shoot it. If you’re open you have to shoot it. It might just go in. If we make a couple of those threes it’s a different game. So I can’t complain.”
Marathon returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday, when it hosts Candor. Tully returns to the floor at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 7, when it visits Hannibal.
