Boys basketball: Third-quarter energy lifts Marquette past Roanoke-Benson

OTTAWA – The eight minutes it takes to play one quarter of high school basketball can seem like a month when a team is playing poorly, a minute when it’s playing well.

In that case, the third quarter of Marquette’s Friday night Tri-County Conference encounter with visiting Roanoke-Benson must have passed in the blink of an eye.

The Crusaders, who saw a nine-point first-quarter lead disappear and an eight-point edge in the second period nearly do the same, exploded after the halftime break.

Connecting on 8 of its first 9 shots from the field, MA started the third stanza on a 17-0 run on their way to a 61-42 victory over the Rockets in Bader Gymnasium.

Denver Trainor and Pete McGrath each popped in seven points and reserve Henry McGrath added five rebounds to his energetic second quarter, all in a 27-6 third period to all but sew up the win and level the Marquette record at 4-4, 2-0 in the conference.

Trainor and Alec Novotney each fired in 13 points to pace the Cru, while Pete McGrath added eight and Henry McGrath seven to go with a game-best 11 rebounds.

“We had a little heart-to-heart at halftime and they came out and did a good job,” Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. “We did a good job bouncing back after getting punched in the mouth on Tuesday (a 57-53 loss to Indian Creek), We didn’t play terrible Tuesday, but we got stagnant on offense, kinda like we did in the second quarter tonight, but then we have a third quarter like that and it carries over to the defensive end. They were on a mission in that quarter and I think they proved the point that we have a decent ballclub.

“There’s been a lack of consistency at times, the kids getting used to playing with each other is part of it … We just have to play four quarters. When we do, we’re kinda fun to watch and can compete with people, but I’ll take this tonight.”

The Crusaders took advantage of R-B’s 1-for-7 start from the field to build leads of 8-0 and 11-2 in the opening stanza, but behind senior forward Nolan Hunter’s eight points on 4-for-4 shooting, the visitors reeled off 13 of the next 16 points for a 15-14 edge.

Marquette widened it out to 25-17 as Henry McGrath tossed in two buckets and passed to Griffin Dobberstein for another. However, a drive and a converted steal by Hunter in the last 1:05 of the half cut that lead to just 25-21.

But the hosts came out like a new team in the third, Trainor canning a couple of 3s and Alec Novotney sinking a pair of deuces during a decisive 17-0 burst. The hot hand extended to the defensive end, where the Rockets were forced into missing their first six tries from the field before a Hunter drive broke the spell.

“We’ve had some tough games this last week and Coach Hop was telling us we had to flush it, go play the next game and come with energy, and that’s what we did,” Henry McGrath said. “We had a bad last 30 seconds of the second quarter, but that energy got us over that at both ends of the floor.”

In all, the Cru drained 10 of 14 shots in the quarter, including 3 of 4 from the arc, and led by Henry McGrath, outrebounded R-B 12-5. That ended as a remarkable 40-22 advantage on the glass for the home club.

Roanoke-Benson (3-6) sank its last five shots of the fourth quarter, cutting into a 61-31 MA lead that ignited the running clock. Hunter ended up with 12 points, Kaden Harms nine and Zeke Kearfott and Landon Martin eight points each.