SALINA – The TMP-Marian Monarchs split Thursday night's final non-league games of the season. The girls earned a 555-45 win over Sacred Heart, while the boys fell short against the state-ranked Knights 68-53.
Girls: TMP 55,
Sacred Heart 45
After trailing by four three times in the first quarter, the
TMP-Marian Lady Monarchs outscored Sacred Heart 12-2 over a
four-and-a-half-minute stretch that closed out the first quarter and opened the
second, building a 23-16 lead—a lead they never relinquished on their way to
the victory.
Hannah Rose started the second quarter with a three-pointer and capped off the run with her second three-pointer of the night on the way to a career-high 17 points.
The Monarchs led 29-23 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Sacred Heart closed within five points, while TMP held onto a 38-35 lead through three quarters.
In the final frame, TMP outscored the Knights by five as they claimed a 55-45 victory.
Rose led all scorers with 17 points, and Claire Schippers matched her career-high for a second straight game with 12 points.
BOYS: Sacred Heart 68, TMP 53
After Sacred Heart and TMP went back and forth for the
better part of three quarters, the Knights used a 26-9 run to end the third and
open the fourth quarter on their way to a 68-53 win Thursday.
The second-ranked Knights jumped out to an early 9-4 lead before TMP closed the game to just one, 9-8, with less than three and a half minutes left in the first quarter.
And that would be the theme of the night for TMP. Each time the Monarchs closed the gap; Sacred Heart answered with a big run and again controlled the game.
With less than three minutes left in the first quarter, Sacred Heart closed the quarter and opened the second quarter on a 15-2 run for a 24-10 lead.
Ty Schmeidler and Jacob Seib combined to score the next 15 points to close out the first half, and then Will Eck added a three-pointer to open the second half, cutting the Knights' lead to 32-28.
TMP got as close as two with just under six and a half minutes left in the third quarter but could get no closer.
Sacred Heart built on its lead, using a 26-9 run to end the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, on its way to the 68-53 victory.
Ty Schmeilder scored a team—high 19 points for the second time in three games and Jacob Seib added 12 for TMP.
The Monarchs travel to Smith Center on Friday.