(Marion) – The Marion boys basketball team rebounded from last Tuesday’s loss to Randolph with a pair of District 26-3A wins over the weekend, 57-45 in Stockdale on Friday at 72-40 at home over Luling on Saturday.
The Bulldogs methodically built the lead against Stockdale, turning a 13-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter into a 27-22 cushion by halftime. Marion won the third period 17-14 and the fourth 13-9 to notch the 12-point win.
Ryken Autry scored 18 points and went 5-7 from three-point range, while Easton Allen made three of his four shots from beyond the arc and 6-10 overall to finish with 17 points.
Autry collected eight rebounds and three steals. Allen distributed five assists.
Samuel Montoya added eight points, Kadeem Blyden five, and Dominic Castellanos three. Fernando Romero, Lane Pawelek, and Jon Padron netted two points apiece.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-14 lead in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Luling and used a 19-9 run in the second period to build a 40-23 halftime cushion.
Marion outscored the Eagles 21-9 in the third quarter to erase any hope of a Luling rally.
Autry pumped in 20 points on 8-17 shooting overall and 4-12 from three. He also dished out five assists.
Castellanos produced a season-high 16 points on 7-10 shooting. He and Romero each nabbed a team-high five steals. Castellanos and Pawelek pulled down six rebouns apiece.
Allen finished with 12 points, Blyden eight, Romero seven, Montoya five, and Pawelek four.
The 2-0 weekend moved Marion to 16-2 overall, 6-2 in district play. The Bulldogs are tied with Randolph for second place in the 26-3A standings, two games back of 8-0 San Antonio-Cole.
Marion hosts Cole on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars (14-5) are the fifth-ranked 3A team in the state by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC), and they beat the Bulldogs 69-41 in San Antonio on Dec. 30.
Cole’s defensive effort limited Autry and Allen, Marion’s top two scorers on the season with averages of 22.8 and 16.1 points per game, respectively.
The Cougars held Autry to nine points on 2-13 shooting, and Allen scoreless on just four attempts. Montoya and Blyden did their best to pick up the slack with 16 and 12 points.
Cole’s Silas Livingston led all scorers in the Dec. 30 game with 20 points, and fellow junior Trey Blackmore added 19. Both players were First Team All-District selections for the Cougars as sophomores last year.
Tuesday’s Marion – Cole rematch will air live on KWED 1580-AM and Seguintoday.com. Pre-game coverage starts at 7:15 p.m.