Marion marches closer to divisional title

CENTER POINT — The Marion Indians completed the sweep, and this time, it was relatively stress-free.

Freshman Kayba Laube made a killing at the free-throw line, scoring a game-high 24 points as newly minted Class 4A No. 1 Marion defeated 3A No. 5 Center Point-Urbana, 63-47, in a Wamac Conference West Division girls' basketball game Friday night at Center Point-Urbana High School.

'We really wanted to focus on finishing,' said backup post Isabella Sade, who grabbed 10 rebounds and made life tough defensively for the Stormin' Pointers. 'That's a tough team, and we knew it would be tough to beat them again.'

As it turned out, not as tough as the first time. When the teams collided at Marion in December, CPU rallied from a 20-point deficit to tie the game late before the Indians prevailed, 60-57.

This time, Marion (17-1 overall, 11-0 Wamac West) kept its foot on the gas.

'We knew we couldn't be conservative. We had to keep pushing and keep scoring,' Laube said.

Laube led the Indians' 23-of-33 performance at the line, sinking 13 of 16.

Chloe Rice added 12 points for the winners, and Mia Laube and Caitlyn Smith added eight points apiece.

The Indians shot to an 11-3 lead, and never surrendered the advantage.

It was 30-21 at halftime, then 47-29 when Rice converted a traditional three-point play. Madie Willson's 3-pointer pulled the Stormin' Pointers (14-3, 9-2) within 47-36 with 4:50 to play, but that was as close as the host team got.

'We can't rely on (a late comeback),' CPU Coach Philip Klett said. 'We got off to the same start as last time, and just couldn't get any tempo going.'

The Indians climbed to No. 1 in the 4A rankings Thursday, and looked the part Friday.

'It's a nice honor, but like I told the girls, we needed to focus on what got us there,' said Marion Coach Corby Laube.

Allie Wooldridge paced the Stormin' Pointers with 15 points.

MARION 63, CENTER POINT-URBANA 47

At Center Point

MARION (63): Chloe Rice 3-9 6-7 12, Caitlyn Smith 3-5 0-1 8, Randi Wright 1-3 0-2 2, Mia Laube 2-4 3-5 8, Kayba Laube 4-9 13-16 24, Isabella Sade 3-5 0-0 6, Maddie Knapp 1-6 1-2 3, Sophie Willette 0-1 0-0 0, Elle Herold 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-44 23-33 63.

CENTER POINT-URBANA (47): LaMia Sisk 1-7 0-0 2, Olivia Brecht 1-2 0-0 3, Sydney Boevers 0-1 0-0 0, Allie Wooldridge 4-11 6-9 15, Callyn Fox 3-7 0-0 6, Adrianna Katcher 3-7 0-0 8, Raegan Dufoe 0-0 0-1 0, Karly Millikin 2-5 1-2 5, Madie Willson 3-5 0-0 8, Rylee Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 7-12 47.

Halftime: Marion 30, CPU 21. 3-point goals: Marion 6-20 (Rice 0-1, Smith 2-4, M.Laube 1-2, K.Laube 3-6, Knapp 0-4, Willette 0-1, Herold 0-2), CPU 6-17 (Sisk 0-3, Brecht 1-2, Wooldridge 1-1, Fox 0-1, Katcher 2-5, Millikin 0-1, Willson 2-4). Team fouls: Marion 16, CPU 24. Fouled out: Wright, Sisk, Millikin, Willson. Rebounds: Marion 34 (Sade 10), CPU 28 (Wooldridge 6). Assists: Marion 9 (Rice 3), CPU 12 (Wooldridge 5). Steals: Marion 13 (Rice 4), CPU 8 (Sisk, Dufoe, Willson 2). Turnovers: Marion 14, CPU 19.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com