Laube lights it up as Marion moves on

MARION - Mia Laube doesn't consider herself much of a shooter.

But she nearly shot the eyes out of the basket last night.

Laube made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2 minutes and finished with a game-high 21 points to lead No. 13 Marion past West Delaware, 63-48, in a girls' basketball Class 4A regional tournament semifinal at Marion.

Marion (17-5) advances to play No. 5 Waverly-Shell Rock (22-0) in the regional final Tuesday night at Vinton.

Marion's freshman trio of Laube, Chloe Rice and Caitlyn Smith combined for 52 points. Rice had 16, and Smith 15.

Laube made three 3-pointers, and two of them came with a second showing to end the first and third quarters.

'Shooting has never really been a strength for me,” said Laube, the daughter of Marion Coach Corby Laube. 'We'd come up to the gym growing up and shoot around, but ...

'Even a couple of months ago I wouldn't have been comfortable shooting those shots. But we've grown as players.”

Marion beat West Delaware by 17 points Jan. 6 at West Delaware. But the Hawks came out scrapping last night and held a 27-23 lead late in the second quarter.

That's when Coach Laube called a timeout and let his players know he wasn't pleased with their effort.

'We knew what West Delaware's tendencies were and we just had a moment where we forgot what we wanted to do,” he said.

'I didn't want it to turn into two or three moments.”

No problem.

A 13-3 spurt to open the second half gave Marion a 39-30 lead, and West Delaware never got closer than five points the rest of the game.

Marion put the game away at the foul line, making 11 of 14 free throws to end the game.

Kristen Wegmann led West Delaware - which ended the season with a 16-7 record - with 17 points. Kasey Palmer had 13, and Emily Thole added 11.