Girls basketball: Point guard duties a must-find for Marquette Crusaders

There is a tough task awaiting the Marquette girls basketball team this winter, defending their Tri-County Conference tournament championship without not only its own best player, but the best player in the entire league.

Gone from last season’s 21-10, regional-finalist club is Josie Eager, the TCC Player of the Year and Times first-team selection after averaging 11.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.2 steal per contest as the team’s point guard for the fourth year in a row. Also graduated is Izzy Garkey, the Crusaders’ defensive stopper and a TCC honorable mentionee.

While coach Eric Price’s squad is not devoid of standouts, finding a player to take over as the main ball-handler is now the squad’s overriding priority to compete in a now wide-open league.

“We’ll miss Josie, who had the ball in her hands 60-65% of the time,” said Price, starting his third season at the Marquette helm. “That’s tough to replace, so a lot of that ball-handling responsibility is gonna be thrown on the younger girls early. It may be we don’t have a traditional point guard. It could be by committee or have someone who hasn’t been a point guard before step in there, and that’s fine. A lot of teams play zone, so point guard doesn’t see the same pressure as when there’s hard man-to-man pressure. It’s there, but not as much.

“But we have a good group back. We’re young, with only one senior and three juniors, so while it doesn’t appear we have a lot of experience back age-wise, we do have a lot of experience game-wise. That will help.”

Much of that responsibility will fall on two letterwinners: 5-10 junior guard Lilly Craig, a Times honorable mention player a year ago, and 5-10 senior Eva McCallum.

Two other regulars who were significant contributors as freshmen are back in the post — 6-0 sophomore center Avery Durdan and 5-8 sophomore forward Makayla Backos. Durdan was a starter nearly the entire season, and Backos the first big off the bench when also not in the starting lineup.

Maera Jimenez, a 5-9 junior, could be the aggressive, physical defensive replacement for Garkey.

However, the remainder of the squad is comprised of less-experienced sophomores. Those include, at guard, 5-7 Chloe Larson, 5-5 Kealey Rick, 5-6 Keely Nelson, 5-8 Morgan Nelson and 5-7 Payton Anderson, and 5-11 center Taylor Cuchra and 5-9 forward Caleigh Rick in the post.

The Cru will be hampered early by a late start due to the volleyball team’s advancing to the sectional, but such big-game experience in basketball, volleyball and softball in recent years should be an asset in tight situations.

“This group won’t rattle easily. They’re pretty battle-tested across the board,” Price said. “The girls had a great volleyball season, so we’re getting them in a little at a time after giving them a little break.

“Early on this season, it could be tricky. Hopefully after the first few weeks of the season, the younger girls will be used to this. … The offense will come around later than the defense early on. Shooting won’t be our strong suit at the start, but it should come around.

“And there’s leadership there. It may not one girl, but a couple of them, and maybe not vocally, but with the way they play, how they handle themselves in practice and show the younger girls how it’s gotta be done.”