180-degree turn in Wamac West for Marion

It won't be worst-to-first.But it could be worst-to-first division.Marion has made a remarkable girls' basketball U-turn, winning its last four Wamac Conference West Division games after starting 0-6 in league play."Our defense has really improved a lot the past three or four weeks," said Marion Coach Brian O'Donnell. "The kids are starting to play some exceptional team defense, and we've taken much better care of the ball since Christmas break."O'Donnell, who coached Springville to the Class 1A state championship in 2008 and a runner-up finish in 2009, succeeded Sherryl Gaffney-Paige last spring. He inherited a team short on varsity experience, and the Indians opened the season with nine losses in their first 10 games.Five of those defeats were by six points or less."There have only been about three games in which teams really took it to us," O'Donnell said. "For the most part, we had been competitive. Now we've started to figure out a way to close things out in the fourth quarter."Marion was the Wamac's best team in 2008, 2009 and 2010 behind Morgan Paige and Brittany Fish. But they graduated, and on Jan. 7, the Indians had sunk to the bottom of the Wamac West.The recent winning streak has brought Marion (6-10 overall, 4-6 Wamac West) within a half-game of third place. Marion has rattled off divisional wins against Waterloo Columbus, Vinton-Shellsburg, Clear Creek Amana and Independence.Marion hosts division-leading Williamsburg on Friday.Dani Peyton leads a balanced team at 10.8 points per game. Peyton is among five of the top seven players that will return next year."It's been a nice group of kids," O'Donnell said. "Even when we were losing, we were having a good time. They play hard and have a great attitude and work ethic."

Regals run away with itIowa City Regina became the first team to clinch the championship of an area conference when it defeated Tipton, 53-50, in overtime Tuesday at Tipton.The Regals are 14-3 overall, 13-0 in the Cedar Valley Conference. They will attempt to conclude a perfect conference season when they host Durant on Friday.Iowa City West (14-1 overall, 11-1 Mississippi Valley Conference) has an opportunity to wrap up the MVC Valley Division title when it faces Cedar Rapids Xavier on the road tonight.West's last MVC title came in 1979.