By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The TMP-Marian boys and girls basketball teams picked up a pair of key Mid-Continent League wins over Norton Friday night at Al Billinger Fieldhouse.
Girls: TMP 37, Norton 34
First place in the MCL was on the line in the first game of the night and after a slow start the Lady Monarchs rallied for a three-point win over the third ranked Lady Jays thanks to a big second half from senior Emily Schippers.
Coach McFarland postgame interview
The first half was a defensive slugfest that saw the Lady Jays go on an 8-2 first quarter run to take a six-point lead after one. In the second quarter the Monarchs held Norton to just one field goal in the second quarter in a 6-2 run to cut the halftime score to 14-12 in favor of the Lady Jays.
Norton opened the second half leading 17-14 but TMP’s Emily Schippers scored the next 11 points for the Monarchs to give them a 25-20 lead with 6:25 left in the game. It was a lead they would never give up on their way to the 37-34 win.
Schippers led the Monarchs with 13. Norton’s Taryn Kuhn led two Lady Jays in double-figures with 14. Hadley Hauser finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Game highlights
With the win the Monarchs take over sole of first place in the MCL at 6-0. They also improved to 11-4 overall.
Norton is 13-2 and 5-1 in the MCL.
Boys: TMP 55, Norton 42
The TMP boys made nine three’s in the first half and had four score in double-figures as they put an end to their season-long three-game losing streak with a 55-42 win over the Blue Jays.
Bill Meagher interview
The Monarchs built an early eight-point lead late in the first quarter thanks to Lucas Lang’s third three-pointer of the first quarter.
Lang scored all 13 of his points in the first-half as he was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in nearly a month.
Norton was able to close the gap to six in the second quarter but got no closer the rest of the way as the Monarchs pick up the 55-42 victory.
Game highlights
Ryan Karlin lead the Monarchs with 14, Lang had 13 and Jackson Schulte finished with 11.
Norton’s Carter Jones finished with a team-high 13.
TMP improved to 9-7 on the season and 4-2 in the MCL.
Norton drops to 7-9 and 2-4 in the MCL.