GRANVILLE – Turns out that some terrific defense that turned into a high shooting percentage for the top seeds in the 96th annual Tri-County Conference Tournament was more than enough to take care of a couple of contenders with one upset already under their belts.
On Wednesday, in Putnam County’s R.M. Germano Gymnasium, top-seeded Seneca captured a title shot by unloading an early second-quarter barrage to earn a 80-53 win over Dwight a day after the No. 5-seeded Trojans took down No. 4 seed and defending champion Midland.
In the nightcap, No. 2 seed Marquette used a 22-3 third quarter to turn an already huge 18-point halftime lead into a running-clock and a 63-26 victory over sixth-seeded Roanoke-Benson fresh off Tuesday’s two-point upset win over No. 3 Putnam County.
Those decisions set the championship for 7 p.m. Friday, when Seneca and Marquette will meet for the third time this season. The Irish took the title game at Marquette’s Christmas Tournament 46-43 on Dec. 29, but the Crusaders avenged that defeat with a 50-46 win at Seneca on Jan. 13.
“We did what we wanted to do,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said, “get to the championship game and maybe get another crack at Marquette, put on a show, just like they want to as well, and see who comes out on top this time.”
(1) Seneca 80, (5) Dwight 53
The Irish, whose best T-C Tourney finishes were second place in 2019 and 2022, used six of 10 first-quarter points by sophomore Paxton Giertz to stretch an 8-6 lead to 19-6 in just less than two minutes into that quarter.
Wyatt Thompson, the Trojans 6-8 center, hit a halfcourt shot to make it 21-13 heading to the second, but that was his most significant contribution of the night. Although he finished with a team-best 16 points, Seneca’s manic start to the second quarter rendered his efforts moot.
In the span of 61 seconds, the Irish press forced six Dwight turnovers and converted those into 11 points, a 3-pointer and a deuce by Braden Ellis at the start and the end to extend the lead to 32-13. The Trojans would later climb back to within 11, the momentum was all Seneca’s.
“That’s what we like to do, speed up our opponent and get a lot of turnovers and runouts because that helps our offense,” said Giertz, who finished with team-highs of 25 points and six rebounds. “It gets the other team tired, and we get to run our offense more efficiently because there are more openings … Defense has been the key to our season, from the very start until now.”
Because of turnovers turned into layups, Seneca shot a sizzling 20 of 27 for 74% in the first half and finished 33 of 54 for 61.1% for the game. Lane Provance netted 17 points, including three 3s, while Calvin Maierhofer and Ellis each scored 12 points and Kysen Klinker 10 for the Irish (20-2).
“We got the tempo in our favor,” Witte said. “We also challenged some of our other players to step up offensively. We can’t be a two-headed monster, and today we weren’t. … The key for us is Lane Provance is figuring things out at both ends of the floor and playing really hard. Not that he wasn’t before, but he’s maturing and that relieves a lot of pressure on everyone.”
(2) Marquette 63, (6) Roanoke-Benson 26
The Crusaders, tourney champs in 1996, 2006, ‘16, ‘17 and ‘19, earned their shot at a sixth title starting with five points each from Krew Bond, Logan Nelson and Griffin Walker for a 15-11 lead after one period, but then really took charge in the second and exploded in the third.
A 12-2 burst led by five more from Nelson to start the second quarter set up a 32-20 edge at the break, but a 15-2 string to begin the third quarter was the killer.
Tommy Durdan scored seven of his 12 points and Bond another six of his team-best 13 as Marquette made 5 of its first 6 shots and 10 of 17 in the quarter, driving the advantage out to 54-23 headed to the fourth.
For the game, the Cru shot 50% and outrebounded the Rockets 35-22 behind six boards from Taylor Waldron and five each from Durdan and Alex Graham.
“That was one of the best third quarters I’ve seen a Marquette team have in quite a while,” Crusaders coach Todd Hopkins said. “We played well in the first half, but so did they. We knew that we had to come out in the second half and throw a haymaker and land it, and I thought we did.
“It’s always easy to make a lot of shots when you’re shooting layups and we were able to create those shots off our defense, just keep pushing the ball and in the way we’re running things (5 for 5 substitutions), it’s working and the kids are buying into it more and more. They’re sharing the ball well, too, and that’s great to see.”