(Weimar) — The Marion Bulldogs held off the Yoakum Bulldogs and advanced to the Class 3A Area round with a 51-49 Bi-District win Tuesday night in Weimar.
Marion scored 14 points in both the first and second quarters to take a six-point lead into the locker room. Richie Rayos dropped in 10 points in the first half while Braeden Fleming chipped in with nine through the first 16 minutes for Marion.
Yoakum would start the second half outscoring Marion 15-5 to take a four-point lead at 37-33, but Marion would close out the quarter with a 5-0 run to go up by one at the end of the third quarter. Travis Randle would hit a three-pointer to put Marion back in front. Marion head coach Jon Allen said Randle’s shot was huge.
“It was big,” Allen said. “We talked about it all the time. I told our guys when we played Randolph late in the year when they ran all those crazy defenses at us, that game would help us in a game like this. We haven’t had a lot of close games. So, I told our guys I was proud of them. They did what they were supposed to do to win.”
Marion found themselves down three early in the fourth but went on a 7-0 run to turn a 42-39 deficit into a 46-42 lead. Rayos hit five free throws down the stretch to keep Marion in front. Yoakum had a chance to force overtime on the game’s last possession, but Marion forced a Yoakum miss in the lane in the game’s final seconds to hold on for the win.
Rayos and Fleming each had a game-high fifteen points for Marion. Randle finished the night with nine points.
The Bulldogs will now meet Crystal City in the Area round of the playoffs. The Javelinas, the champions of District 28-3A, beat Jourdanton, 82-54 last night to advance to the second round. The game will be held Friday at 6 p.m. in Devine. We will have the playoff game here on KWED.