Turnover here, turnover there, turnover everywhere.
That was pretty much the mantra of the game as the Warren Lady Warriors and Marietta Lady Tigers took to the basketball court of Sutton Gym on the campus of Marietta High School Wednesday night.
Marietta forced Warren to commit 15 more turnovers than field goals made and the Lady Warriors had nearly as many turnovers as points scored as the Lady Tigers claimed a 50-34 victory.
"This (victory) assured of us of no worse than the same regular season record we had last year," said Marietta girls' basketball coach Scott Cozzens. "I'm real proud of the kids and what they've accomplished."
To pick up their 17th win of the campaign, all the Lady Tigers had to do was rely on their defense.
And the defense responded as well as it possibly could.
Fact Box
Marietta 50, Warren 34
Warren 8 9 9 8 - 34
Marietta 6 13 20 11 - 50
WARREN (9-10): Bailey Poage 1-3 0-0 2; Kasey White 0-3 3-4 3; Allie Grace Proctor 1-10 5-8 7; Jordanna Rauch 5-9 1-2 11; Emma Ryan 3-5 2-2 8; DaShara Morgan 0-1 1-2 1; Staci Lauer 0-1 0-0 0. Mackenzie Ullman 0-2 0-0 0; Alli Bloomingdale 1-4 0-0 2. Team 11-38 12-19 34. 3pt goals 0.
MARIETTA (17-2): Maegan Grosel 3-11 2-2 9; Amanda Brown 3-8 2-2 9; Erica Dawson 4-16 3-3 13; Betsy Schramm 1-3 0-0 2; Ali Summers 4-5 1-2 9; Elizabeth Stoll 1-6 5-6 7; Luisa Barton 0-1 0-0 0; Alexis Walsh 1-1 0-0 2; Kristin Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Team 17-51 13-15 50. 3pt goals 3 (Grosel 1, Brown 1, Dawson 1).
Team stats:
Warren: Shooting 11-38 (29 percent); 3pt shooting 0-3; Rebounds 36 (Proctor 8, White 6, Rauch 6); Assists 7 (Poage 3); Steals 4; Turnovers 26; Blocks 2 (Rauch 1, Ryan 1); Total fouls 12.
Marietta: Shooting 17-51 (33 percent); 3pt shooting 3-14 (21 percent); Rebounds 23 (Schramm 8); Assists 10 (Grosel 4); Steals 16 (Schramm 5, Dawson 4); Turnovers 9; Blocks 3 (Grosel 2, Schramm 1); Total fouls 18.
JV score: Warren 32, Marietta 25
Warren: Taylor Foy 1; Mackenzie Ullman 5; Alli Bloomingdale 3; Kendra Lynch 7; DaShara Morgan 2; Mackenzie Harris 2; Jessica Shaw 6; Amy Fleming 6
Marietta: Kylee Dailey 3; Kourtney Crum 5; Haley Bonar 1; Taleri Mugrage 4; Gracie Haas 4; Alexis Walsh 5; Kristin Hill 1; Kaitlyn Cozzens 2
Next games: Marietta at Logan, 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. varsity Friday; Warren at Gallia Academy, 6 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. varsity Saturday.
Warren committed 26 turnovers and made just 11-of-38 shot attempts to finish with the 34 points, just eight more points than the turnovers made. At the end of the third quarter the Lady Warriors had scored just 26 points and turned the ball over 23 times.
By that time the Lady Tigers were comfortably ahead and backed off the aggressive defense that forced so many Warren miscues.
"We didn't do what we were supposed to do," said Warren girls' basketball coach Ryan Werry. "Obviously that results in a loss with 26 turnovers."
In their matchup last week, the Lady Warriors fell just 55-52 but still turned the ball over 27 times.
Entering the rematch Werry tried to emphasize the importance of limiting turnovers, pointing out that 27 turnovers can lead to 54 points at the other end. Unfortunately, his team didn't listen.
"That was the low, was 54. We need to value the possessions, make the good pass and find the open person," Werry said.
Instead, it was the Lady Tigers consistent play on the defensive end that made for a very rough night offensively for Warren, which had four quarters of single digit scoring. "If we can do that (create turnovers), even if we're not shooting well, that gives us that many more shots," Cozzens said.
And the Lady Tigers needed every one of those shots, because they weren't exactly faring well at the offensive end either.
In the first quarter of play the teams combined for just 14 points as Warren led 8-6 and the score was just 19-17 in favor of Marietta at the break. The two teams combined to shoot 25 percent, 6-of-24, in the first quarter and were just 14-of-47 at halftime for 29 percent.
The difference in the game turned out to be a 20-9 advantage in the third quarter, where Marietta was able to hit on 7-of-14 attempts from the field.
Leading by just two at halftime, 19-17, the Lady Tigers opened the game up in the first three minutes of the second half.
Ali Summers knocked down a basket off an assist from Betsy Schramm to spark the Lady Tigers on a 9-0 run to start second half play.
"In the third quarter we just lost our focus, lost our momentum," Werry said.
Maegan Grosel's free throws with 5:54 to go was followed by a three-pointer by Amanda Brown off Grosel's assist and Schramm's putback basket gave Marietta its first double-digit lead of the game with 4:54 in the third quarter.
"We didn't quite get our legs till the third quarter," Cozzens said.
Part of the sluggish start for both teams could well have been the emotional energy spent during Tuesday night's Marietta and Warren boys game, where the Warriors edged Marietta 58-54.
When the girls took the court on Wednesday, there just wasn't much energy in the atmosphere.
"There was a lot of emotion spent (Tuesday) night and you could tell," Cozzens said. "There wasn't a lot of electricity in here."
Marietta's third quarter, where the Lady Tigers hit seven field goals and four free throws, assured that there would be no late theatrics as there was when Marietta had to rally from eight down to start the final frame.
Instead, the Lady Tigers turned a two point advantage into 13, and Warren was never able to get the deficit under double figures again.
Erica Dawson's three-pointer with 7:08 left in regulation gave Marietta a 16 point lead, which would prove to be the final margin as the teams traded baskets and free throws as the lead dipped to 12, but no further.
Dawson, who had a game high 13 points, hit a pair of free throws and Elizabeth Stoll added two more charity attempts with 36.8 seconds to set the final score.
"We played just well enough to win," Cozzens said.
