MARION - Lindsay Lenon made four of six free throws down the stretch, and Marion clawed out a 48-45 win over Carterville on Tuesday in the Lady Wildcat Invitational at Virgil "Cuss" Wilson Gymnasium.

Marion (1-1) trailed by four, 41-37, late in the fourth quarter before tying the game at 45 on two free throws by Lenon with 1:17 left. She added two more with 19 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 47-45 edge.

"Carterville's a good team and they didn't give us anything," said Marion coach Saeward Mattox. "We definitely had to work for it and had to earn it. Monday night (against Herrin) we had a really good 3-point shooting night and sometimes it's just not there."

Marion got nine points and 12 rebounds from junior Jasmine Garnett, who was the tallest player on the floor at 6-foot-1. With the Wildcats' other six-footer, Michelle Lazorchak, out with a knee injury, Carterville focused on containing Garnett, with as many as three Lady Lions guarding her at one time.

"I thought we did a relatively good job defensively," said Carterville coach Todd Rogers. "We're going to be out-sized all year. All five of us have to hit the boards and we've got to get good position on defense and double-team the post."

Carterville (1-1) was led by Kelsea Ashton and Meredith Brown, who finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Brown led the team in steals with three, while Ashton and Tasha Kill each hauled down six rebounds. The Lady Lions edged the Wildcats on the glass, 28-27.

Lenon led Marion with 14 points, while the Rushing twins, Cassie and Ashleigh, combined for 23.

"We just about shot ourselves out of the ballgame," Mattox said. "Our girls are such smart basketball players overall that they overcame it, but sometimes that's hard."

The Lady Lions had a chance to tie the game at 47 with 10 seconds left and Ashton at the charity stripe. She missed her first attempt and Carterville was called for a lane violation to give the ball back to Marion. At the opposite end, Lenon hit one of two free-throws to put the Wildcats up by three with five ticks left on the clock.

"I thought it was a good, hard-fought game between two young teams," Rogers said. "We had to hit a 3 and we got a shot off. Unfortunately it didn't go, but we could have done some things early in the fourth quarter where we wouldn't have been in that situation."

Marion jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game and held a 20-13 halftime advantage. Carterville rallied to tie the game at 30 to end the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Brown gave the Lady Lions their first lead of the game with 6:25 left in the fourth.

The teams take a day off today before returning to action Thursday. Marion will take on Vienna at 7 p.m., with Carterville battling Herrin at 8:30. In the early game Tuesday, Vienna defeated Benton 60-42.

pete.spitler@thesouthern.com / 351-5073

Marion 10 10 10 18 - 48

Carterville 6 7 17 15 - 45

MARION (48) - C. Rushing 3 3-4 12, A. Rushing 3 5-5 11, Chamness 1 0-1 2, Garnett 4 1-2 9, Lenon 4 4-6 14. Totals 15 13-18 48.

CARTERVILLE (45) - Ashton 4 3-5 12, Hendricks 2 1-2 5, Kill 3 2-4 8, Thomas 2 0-0 4, Brown 2 5-6 10, Johnson 2 1-2 6. Totals 15 12-19 45.

3-point goals - Marion 5 (C. Rushing 3, Lenon 2); Carterville 3 (Ashton, Brown, Johnson). Team fouls - Marion 16, Carterville 17. Fouled out - Ashton (0:08 of 4th). Technical - None. Lead changed: 2 times. Records - Marion is 1-1, Carterville is 1-1.