Girls basketball: Quick start fuels Marquette’s win over Midland

OTTAWA – The longest, most difficult task starts with a positive first step and, as long as one doesn’t trip over an untied shoelace, that usually leads to good things.

The Marquette girls basketball squad got off to a solid start on their Bader Gym home floor Thursday night, racing out to leads of 10-2 and 16-4 in the first quarter and then holding off a stubborn Midland club for a 50-29 Tri-County Conference victory.

Josie Eager led the winners with 13 points, including all six of MA’s points in the first three minutes of the game before she began distributing to the rest of the Cru, while Lilly Craig added 10 points and four blocked shots. Avery Durdan and Eva McCallum each added eight points, Chloe Larson six and Izzy Garkey five, while Garkey, McCallum, Eager and Taylor Cuchra snared a team-best four rebounds apiece.

MA used those boards to overcome a mediocre 33% night from the field (21-of-63) and lift their mark to 5-2 overall, 2-0 in the T-C.

“Josie started us out well and when that happens, it gets us into everything we do,” Marquette coach Eric Price said. “The shots haven’t been falling for her lately the way she’d like, so it’s great to see her back on the home floor, knocking shots down and hitting the open players in transition.

“I was happy in particular with the way the ball movement went down. We were all very unselfish tonight and that’s always good to see, and we knocked down shots, which always makes the game more fun. Defensively, we still had a couple of hiccups, turned the ball over a few times when we rushed ourselves and we need to box out on the boards better. We have a little ways to go in some areas, but overall, I’m really happy with this one.”

Eager popped in a 10-footer 39 seconds into the game and, after Midland tied it on a pair of free throws by Alexis Dean, the Cru senior dropped in a drive to give the hosts the lead for good. She next took a defensive rebound coast to coast, faking a pass to the wing at the offensive end to move a defender and clear a path down the lane for an easy lay-up.

McCallum followed with a pair of jumpers and freshman Avery Durdan added two tosses and a spin move in the paint before Craig capped the surge with a deuce for a 16-4 advantage.

Midland was understandably not at its best because of several issues: the absences of senior center Alex Phillips (8.2 ppg) because of COVID-19 protocols and injured point guard Sophia Malloy, plus the emotional effect of the recent suicide of a Midland student.

Nonetheless, the Timberwolves fought back with six points from 2021 all-conference second teamer Maddie Pyles in the second stanza. However, that only closed the gap to 24-14 before another Cru burst – sparked by four points from Durdan – ended the half with MA on top, 32-16.

The Crusaders remained in control, the lead ballooning to as many 24 points (44-20) in the third period.

Dean posted nine points, while Pyles added eight and Torrie Meinders six for the T-Wolves, who shot a chilly 28.2% (11-for-39) and turned the ball over 24 times to Marquette’s nine.

“Not to give excuses because Marquette’s a good team that always shoots the ball well,” said Midland coach Michelle Janssen, her club now 0-8 overall, 0-3 in the league, “but I liked that our girls never gave up. They kept the fight to the end. Alexis Dean played really well for us. We’re asking a lot of her and she’s really stepped up for us. We’re very proud of her.

“Hopefully when we get [Marquette] at our place [Jan. 13 in Varna], we’ll be a little healthier, a little more mindful, a little more in the game.”