Sometimes the reasons why one team separates itself from another in a game isn’t exactly clear.

But in others it doesn’t take much to ascertain the difference.

Lockport missed its first 16 field goals and didn’t score its first point until 5:53 remained in the second quarter, digging itself a huge early hole it could never climb out of in a 59-33 loss to Marist in the Class 4A Joliet West Sectional on Wednesday.

Marist (29-5) faces Homewood-Flossmoor in the sectional championship game on Friday night. Lockport finished its season with a 27-6 record.

The Redhawks had a size and experience advantage over the Porters and wasted little time in asserting it. It was particularly evident on the glass, where Marist routinely was getting second (and sometimes third and fourth chances) at the basket and a lion’s share of its points came in the low post.

“We knew that they were smaller,” Marist forward Stephen Brown said. “We knew that we had the advantage there so we just went out there and did what we had to do.”

Brown was one of two Marist players who collected double-digit rebounds as he grabbed 13 and Chuck Barnes finished with 10. Marist held a 23-7 rebounding advantage at the break and finished plus-25 in the category on the game.

“You combine the physicality that they have with the guards being able to make plays and that put us in the situation that we were in,” Lockport coach Dave Wilson said.

The problems started early and quickly compounded.

Marist took a 10-0 lead after a quarter as Lockport missed all 10 of its field goal attempts. The Redhawks were also setting a template for themselves, taking open perimeter shots when given to them but otherwise hammering the ball in the low post where multiple players seemed to be lurking waiting for their turn.

Brown set the tone early and finished with 17 points, but Barnes and Kendall Myers also took their turn causing problems for the Porters.

Grady Ruane finally broke the Lockport scoring drought by splitting a pair of free throws at the 5:53 mark of the second quarter, but the Porters didn’t get their first field goal until their 17th attempt from the floor when Trace Schaaf knocked down a 3-pointer.

When that finally happened, Lockport found itself trailing 26-4.

Lockport got two quick buckets just before halftime, but still shot just 15 percent (3 of 20) from the floor before the break and found itself buried under a 30-9 halftime deficit.

To its credit, Lockport showed considerably more life in the third quarter, outscoring Marist 19-12 in the quarter, but the steady play of Redhawk guards TJ Tate and Adoni Vassilakis, who resides in Lockport and had four older brothers play previously for the team Marist was challenging Wednesday, kept Lockport at bay.

Marist scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to put an end to any thoughts of a miracle rally for Lockport.

Nedas Venckus led Lockport with eight points. And despite the outcome of this one, the future looks bright for Lockport, which started three juniors and a sophomore.

“I was able to talk to our returners. This is the blueprint,” Wilson said. “They played physical, strong man-to-man and they had guards getting them in and out of possessions and they didn’t turn the ball over.

“That’s the template that works. We’re not there yet. And that gives a blueprint how to attack that moving forward and that’s exciting.”