Machon Wins Appeal, Boosts Lady Rams

Sleeping in an airport for four days to go to a basketball game may sound like torture for some people.  For Marlee Machon, whatever it takes to play basketball, she’ll do.

Machon is one of Highland girl’s basketball’s shining stars.  Coming in at just over 5-foot-3, her amazing ball handling skills and vision has set the Lady Rams off on a hot region start.

“She’s really poised with the ball and it takes a lot of pressure of our other players,” head Coach Jeremy Chatterton said of Machon.

However, at the beginning of the season adversity plagued Machon.  Over the summer she transferred from Juan Diego and moved into the West boundaries.  Instead of going to West however, she decided to come to Highland to avoid the problems that come along with a larger school.

“It was easier to go to a smaller school because West is so big,” Machon said.

Because of her transferring into Highland which was not technically in her designated boundaries, it made it so Machon was not eligible for varsity play.

“It was pretty devastating, because I was really excited and our team was looking really good.” said Machon.

It was especially hard for Machon to deal with because universities begin strongly recruiting athletes during their junior year.  This meant that universities may have passed up on the highly talented Machon because she could not play varsity.

However, Machon subsequently put in an appeal for her eligibility while having to watch her teammates play through the preseason and into the region opener.  During this period of time she was only allowed to play JV and was allowed to sit on the bench at the varsity game, something extremely hard for the highly gifted Machon.

Just before Christmas, everything changed.  Representatives from the Utah High School Athletic Association came to Machon’s new home in Highland boundaries to see how she was doing and to talk with her about basketball.  Then just a few days later the appeal went through and she was cleared to play varsity.

“It was pure joy when I found out I could play,” Machon said.  “I was super eager but I was also kind of nervous to play.”

This was when the infamous four day stay at the airport happened.  Machon and her family were planning on traveling to the Philippines to visit relatives and had a layover in Seattle and Hawaii.  The day before they got on the plane, Machon found out she was able to play varsity and the appeal went through.  When there was a problem with the airline that delayed their flight, Machon made the call.  In order to get back to Salt Lake and the Lady Rams, she chose to sleep in the airport for four days to get back and play in the Kearns game.  Having to sleep on small uncomfortable chairs that many people would not have survived on.  But for the 5-foot-3 junior, it was no problem.  Most others in Machon’s shoes would not have chosen to do what she did, but getting back and playing in.

Since Machon has been made eligible to play varsity the Lady Rams have been on a hot streak in Region 6.  With only having lost one game and a big win over rivals East, the Lady Rams are looking at a very successful season.  Machon herself has been doing well averaging 15.3 points per game.  Not only has Machon been doing well with the large amount of points and assists since her return but the entire team have been performing well.

“Having Marlee be able to play varsity has boosted our motivation to win,” teammate Macy Wilson said.  “She’s just such a positive person.”

Nani Tonga and Lea Havili have been two players other than Machon doing exceptionally well, and are averaging 14.1 and 9.0 points respectively.

Machon has not only excelled on the court, but off the court as well.

“Her academics are wonderful and she works very hard in the classroom.” Machon’s counselor Cheryl Benson said.

Academics are big in Machon’s family, as she always tries to balance basketball and school work.

“My parents always told me I had to take care of school stuff first so it’s kind of just a habit to jump on my homework as soon as practice is over,” Machon said.

Through her outstanding play and hard work off the court, Machon is currently being highly recruited by Ivy League schools.  Harvard and Yale are just a few of the schools trying to recruit this hard working Junior.

The Lady Rams this year are looking for a potential region championship and make it as deep in the 4A tournament as possible.

“4A is pretty wide open right now so we want to make it as deep into state as we can,” Machon said.

Even after a tumultuous start to the season, Machon’s eye is still on the prize.