The Marion girls talk about how passionate new coach Corby Laube is about the game of basketball.

Turns out he’s prophetic, as well.

When his young squad bounced back from a shaky start at home Friday night to take a 12-point lead over Class 3A No.12 Center Point-Urbana at halftime, Laube was still cautious.

“These guys are too good,” he said to top assistant Pete Messerli. “They’re gonna come back.”

Sure enough, the Stormin’ Pointers did storm back, holding the Indians to just two baskets in the third quarter and tying it up at 37-all with 7:53 left in the game.

“We knew it would be a hard-fought physical game,” Laube said afterward. “We knew they wouldn’t quit.

“But we think that’s the strength of our team, too, We play hard and with a lot of heart.”

And no one fights more than hard-nosed sophomore Michalyn Mohr.

She halted a nine-point CPU run with two clutch free throws, then turned a steal into stole into a score for a two-point edge her team nursed the rest of the way.

Mohr scored again under the basket with 2:10 to go on a sweet feed from Emi Banes and dished off to Beth Knapp shortly after.

With steady sophomore Amanda Sahm coolly sinking 3 of 4 free throws in the last 20 seconds, Marion hung on for a 50-44 victory in the hotly-contested Wamac West Division race.

The Indians (8-5) and Pointers (10-4) are now both 5-2 in conference play, a game behind Class 4A second-ranked Benton.

Center Point upset the previously unbeaten Bobcats 50-42 on Tuesday. And Benton comes to Marion next Tuesday after beating the Indians by seven in their previous meeting earlier this season.

“We battled ‘em the first,” said Mohr, a stocky but smooth post player who led her team with 14 points Friday.  “It’ll be another hard game, but we’re getting better. We’ll be ready.”

Laube is the Marion athletic director and former boys coach. He took over the girls this season in place of Brian O’Donnell, who left for an administrator’s job at St. Pius catholic school.

Flustered early on by CPU’s press, Marion turned the ball over five times in the first couple of minutes and fell behind 9-2.

“We’ve had problems starting games all year,” said Laube. “But once we figure things out and find our groove, we’ve been able to come back."

The Indians' aggressive defense limited the taller Center Point girls to just six points in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, junior Emi Banes came off the bench and knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half to spark a Marion run leading up the half.

“Basketball is most often a game of runs,” Laube noted. “We had ours, and then they had theirs.

“But we didn’t panic. And it was a very good win.”

Banes came into the game early because star-crossed senior starter Micaela Combs suffered yet another injury, turning her ankle soon after the start and ending up on crutches.

Combs, a starter as a sophomore, missed all but two games last year with chronic shin splints and a variety of difficult-to-diagnose leg injuries. She’s been playing with pain this season and had an MRI scheduled for Monday even before getting hurt again in Friday’s game. It’s not known how long she’ll be sidelined this time around.

“I have complete faith that this team will keep on battling with or without me,” Combs said after the game.  “Coach Laube is so passionate and brings so much energy that we all want to play hard for that guy. We’ll battle all the way. We don’t go down easy.”

CENTER POINT-URBANA (44): Shannon Stone 1 1-2 3, Paige Wilkin 1 1-2 3, Jessica Wooldridge 0 2-2 2, Arika Wooldridge 5 5-7 15, Kennedy Salow 3 5-6 12, Emily Kramer 0 0-0 0, Shelby Brecht 0 0-0 0, Carlie Wilhelmi 0 2-4 2, Cheyenne Kinsella 1 2-2 5, Brittany Buelow 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 18-25 44.

MARION (50): Micaela Combs 0 0-0 0, Amanda Sahm 3 5-6 11, Paige Perkins 2 2-2 6, Beth Knapp 3 2-3 8, Michalyn Mohr 5 4-5 14, Emi Banes 3 0-2 9, Jozee Peyton 1 0-0 2, Tessa Jordan 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 13-18 50.

Halftime – Marion 33, CPU 21. 3-point goals – CPU 2 (Kinsella, Salow), Marion 3 (Banes 3). Total fouls – CPU 18, Marion 16. Fouled out – Stone.