Gwen Smith hustled until the end, even scoring two baskets in the final minutes.

But the effort went for naught as she and her Lyons teammates could never catch up with Marist.

“I think for some plays there were really out-hustling us,” Smith said. “They got a lot of easy layups. We would score and then they would get an easy layup, so we just need to remember to hustle and not them get easy shots.”

Marist got way too many easy shots in an 82-61 victory over the Lions at the Montini Christmas Tournament semifinals on Friday night. The RedHawks (14-2) made 30 of 60 shots, with the vast majority of the makes being layups or wide-open 3-pointers.

Smith, a senior forward, tried her best. She finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Her left-handed drive resulted in a three-point play that tied the game at 5-5.

But Marist responded with an 11-0 run and never looked back. The game never felt close even as the Lions (11-3) pulled within five points twice in the second quarter despite losing senior point guard Avery Mezan to injury in the first quarter.

“She hurt her finger and then a lot of our shots weren’t falling,” Smith said. “So it was a mix of that and not always giving 100 percent effort.

“I feel we fought the entire time but we just weren’t able to close it. I think this shows how we can improve our offense a lot and that we really need to stay locked in on defense the whole game.”

The Lions trailed 54-45 heading into the fourth quarter. Smith made a steal on the first possession of the final period but the Lions gave the ball right back and gave up 28 points in the quarter.

Lily Porter tallied a game-high 29 points for Marist, while Lucy Cosme added 18 points and 13 rebounds and Oliva Cosme had 12 points, six assists and five steals.

Cornell-bound star Emma O’Brien paced the Lions with 24 points, five rebounds and three steals but shot 8 of 24 from the floor and 6 of 12 from the line. Senior forward Anna Bigenwald contributed six points and a team-high 12 rebounds, while freshman Kennedy Moore and sophomore Sydney Munson scored five points each.

Lyons coach Meghan Hutchens had a positive message for the Lions, who will play Fremd in the third-place game at 6 p.m. Saturday.

“She said this will not hurt us,” Smith said. “Marist is a good team and this doesn’t define us for the rest of the season.

“It’s a good a learning point. This gives us another opportunity to learn and grown before the games matter in the state tournament.”