Girls basketball: Not perfect, but Fieldcrest and Marquette roll to wins

Knights take down FCW to go 3-0: Crusaders pound Dwight

FLANAGAN – Fieldcrest and Marquette were not exactly at their best at the Integrated Seed Solutions half of the Falcon-Irish Girls Basketball Thanksgiving Tournament on Thursday night, but you’d have a hard time convincing their opposition of that.

Fieldcrest was “less than sharp,” as coach Mitch Neally said, but still bested host Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland, 68-30, to finish pool play with a 3-0 record and earn a berth into Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. championship game against the top team coming out of the Seneca portion of the event.

The young Marquette squad, meanwhile, was learning but “took care of business,” coach Eric Price said, in its 59-22 victory over Dwight in the night’s first contest. The Crusaders moved to 2-1 and will play the Seneca half’s runner-up for third place at 4 p.m. Saturday in Seneca.

Also on Saturday, FCW (0-3) will play at 1 p.m. for seventh against an opponent that was to be determined on Friday’s final night at Seneca.

Fieldcrest 68, FCW 30: The Knights were the most skilled and physically talented team on the floor Thursday, and it showed from the opening tip, forcing five FCW turnovers in the first 91 seconds and 13 miscues for the opening quarter. Kaitlin White canned a pair of 3-pointers in her 10 points, and Ashlyn May added seven points as FHS rolled out to a 27-10 lead.

But while Fieldcrest still shot the ball well (54.7%, 29 of 53) and ended up with only 12 turnovers, it lacked that same energy and efficiency over the final three quarters. May ended up with 21 points, eight of those in the third quarter, while White chipped in 16 and Ella Goodrich and Carolyn Megow 12 points each.

“We came out with good intensity, but I wasn’t all that impressed with how we executed both on offense and on defense,” Neally said. “Defensively, we looked sluggish, and on offense we weren’t as crisp as I’d like us to be. We need to be more disciplined in both. I feel like we were expecting to come in tonight and win and move on to the championship game, but we’re building for more things, and we’re going to have to play with more heart and passion than this.

“We got the job done, we’re happy to get the win, and we’re excited to make it to the championship, but there are a lot of things we’re going to have to clean up if we expect to compete well on Saturday.”

Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland's Raegan Montello (23) cruises to a layup last season during the Falcon-Irish Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Falcons shook off that rocky start and, although the turnover total (31 for the night) and the deficit continued to grow to 26 at the half and 34 by the end of the third quarter, they battled behind the play of Raegan Montello and Ella Derossett. Montello netted six of her team-high 12 points in the third quarter and Derossett four of her 10 in that same period.

“We always have a hard time with Fieldcrest, and the last few years, we struggle a lot against them and they beat us by a lot,” FCW coach Danielle Edens said, “but tonight I told the girls no matter what the score is, I just didn’t want them to quit, and they didn’t. They handled it well. We changed up some defenses, and with just one practice in them they played them well and did all I asked.

“Fieldcrest is a good team that does so many things well, but I told the girls I’m proud of them because this is the best we’ve played them ever in my three years here. Now we just have to bring that energy every time.”

Marquette 59, Dwight 22: The Crusaders put on virtually the same kind of first-quarter blitz on the Trojans that Fieldcrest did on FCW in the later game, breaking a 2-2 tie with 25 of the next 27 points. Eight of those points came from Lilly Craig, who led all scorers with 16 and added six rebounds, while freshman Emily Durdan contributed 10 points and Eva McCallum six points and a game-high eight rebounds.

The MA edge grew to 35-14 at intermission before an 18-4 third quarter – six points each from Craig and Durdan – all but settled the issue.

All nine of Marquette’s players got into the scoring column, but the defense also was in force, as the Cru forced 31 Dwight turnovers and limited the Trojans to 16.9% (9 for 53) shooting.

“Our focus has been on rebounding, and we rebounded better tonight, but we still have a long way to go on it,” Price said. “I liked that we got out in transition and got some easy buckets that way. The shots usually start falling when you get the transition going. … Defensively we played OK, but as the season goes on we’re going to have to step it up a notch in that and in rebounding. There’s a lot of hustle in this group.

“But overall, I’m happy with this. Being as young as we are, all the minutes the girls can get are valuable minutes. We’re going to have some growing pains, but early in the season you take the win however you can get it.”