Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – With just two upperclassmen and one returning starter from last year’s state title team on this year’s roster Jamie Smith knew there would be some growing pains early for his young Solon team.

Over the past few weeks Smith has watched his young squad grow up right before his eyes.

Solon stretched its winning streak to three on Tuesday with a 51-50 win over Class 4A No. 15 Marion in a WAMAC East Division thriller in Solon.

“You know me, I’m all in, I’m emotional, but they are starting to believe,” Smith said. “These young kids are starting to trust, they are starting to believe and it’s amazing to watch.”

Sophomore Jerzey Haluska was fouled following an offensive rebound and made 1-of-2 free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining to give Solon its second win over a ranked team in six days.

Solon improved to 7-5 with the win and is now 4-1 in January with three wins over teams that were ranked at the time.

“We all work well together and trust each other and we’ve worked so hard to come together as a team,” Haluska said. “We all want the same thing and have the same goals.”

In a win over 3A No. 14 Monticello last week Solon trailed by as many as 11 in the first half before rallying late.

On Tuesday the Spartans saw a five-point third quarter deficit disappear and trailed by nine with under five minutes to play.

Solon responded by closing the game on a 14-4 run sparked by a pair of 3-pointers by sophomore Laney Johnson.

“We come to practice every day with the mindset of let’s get better,” Johnson said. “We are always going to be the underdog this year so we just want to get better every day and we keep getting better.”

The fact Solon even had an opportunity late shows the growth the Spartans have made this season.

Solon shot 28 percent from the field, including 5-of-34 from 3-point range, was outrebounded 42-27 and was held scoreless for nearly three minutes to open the fourth quarter during a 10-0 Marion run.

Yet The Spartans trailed just 46-43 when Johnson buried a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:59 to play.

“We didn’t shoot well, we didn’t play well at times, our defense was not good at times but you look up at the scoreboard and we had a chance,” Smith said.

Johnson missed her first six shots on Tuesday and had misfired on all five 3-point attempts before nailing two from nearly the exact same spot in the corner in a span of 33 seconds.

The second 3-pointer from Johnson with 1:26 remaining cut the Marion lead to 48-46.

“We talk all the time that in a high school game two minutes is forever,” Smith said. “I am so proud of Laney Johnson. She was whatever she was from 3, but she hadn’t made one and we ran two set plays for her and she drilled them.”

Haluska scored the Spartans final three points to secure the win.

Her basket in the paint gave Solon a 50-48 lead with 39 seconds remaining.

Matayah Austin tied the game at 50 with a basket in the paint with 28 seconds left.

On the ensuing Solon possession Haluska grabbed an offensive rebound off a Johnson missed 3-pointer and was fouled setting up her game-winning free throw.

“I tried to read the shot,” Haluska said. “I was able to get the rebound and I was really nervous because I’ve never been in that position before. I was just thinking about the end goal of being able to win the game.”

Senior Kobi Lietz led Solon with 15 point while junior Delainey Durr had 11 points and freshman Beckett Kruse had six points and 10 rebounds.

Haluska and Johnson each had six points and Laeni Hinkle had five points for Solon.

The Spartans forced Marion into 29 turnovers and limited the Wolves to 43 percent shooting.

“We knew that we could pressure them and force turnovers,” Lietz said. “We did that the first half and we knew we were capable of doing that late in the game and we got some steals that really helped us down the stretch.”

Madeline Pavelka led Marion with 20 points and 21 rebounds.

Marion                       13  11   9   17  –  50

Solon                          12   8   16  15  –  51    

Marion (50) – Kendyl Aarhus 3-11 0-0 7, Matayah Austin 1-1 1-3 3, Madison Rinderknecht 0-1 0-0 0, Braelin Wieseler 3-7 0-0 8, Harlow Griffin 3-6 1-3 9, Madeline Pavelka 7-12 5-6 20, Ellie Morris 1-4 0-0 3, Totals 18-42 7-12 50.

Solon (51) – Kobi Lietz 3-11 8-10 15, Delainey Durr 5-18 0-0 11, Laney Johnson 2-9 0-0 6, Quinn Armentrout 1-9 0-0 2, Laeni Hinkle 2-5 0-0 5, Jerzey Haluska 2-6 2-5 6, Beckett Kruse 2-3 2-4 6, Totals 17-61 12-19 51.

3-point field goals – Marion 7-13 (Aarhus 1-5, Wiesler 2-2, Griffin 2-3, Pavelka 1-1, Morris 1-2), Solon 5-34 (Lietz 1-3, Durr 1-11, Johnson 2-8, Armentrout 0-7, Hinkle 1-4, Haluska 0-1). Rebounds – Marion 42 (Pavelka 21), Solon 27 (Kruse 10). Total fouls – Marion 13, Solon 10. Turnovers – Marion 29, Solon 10. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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