Inspired Marquette rolls over struggling Midland

OTTAWA – Tradition is one of the many things that sets Marquette Academy apart from other schools, so it was only fitting that on a night when its rich history is remembered and honored that there were a couple of McGraths – members of a family with a long and treasured past at the school – right in the middle of things.

On a night when six new honorees joined the school’s John Pocivasek Hall of Fame, Peter McGrath popped in a game-best 20 points and Henry McGrath came off the bench to notch six points and grab a team-high five rebounds.

Both were part of a balanced effort that earned the Crusaders a 66-36 Tri-County Conference victory over Midland on Friday at Bader Gymnasium.

A long shot from beyond half court by the Timberwolves’ Quin Gauwitz beat the first-quarter buzzer and knotted the score at 17-17.

However, Marquette scored 37 of the next 50 points – including an 18-4 third quarter – to remain undefeated in four conference games. The Cru, along with Woodland and Seneca are the only unbeatens in the league entering Friday, jumps to 11-6 overall.

The Timberwolves, the only Tri-County Conference team other than those three with a winning conference mark, drop to 4-3 and 9-12 overall.

“Hall of Fame night is always an inspiration because we strive to be like those people who are inducted, maybe get our picture up on the wall some time. That gave us an edge tonight,” Peter McGrath said. “It was an all-around good night for us. Everyone contributed, everyone played well.

“That half-court shot was a wild one, and we were a little riled up at the end of the first quarter, but that brought us back down and we just rolled from there.”

The Timberwolves hung tough early behind five of Keagan Faulkner’s 13 and a trey from Gauwitz, but it took his second bomb from 55 feet away to knot the score.

That slap in the face woke up the Cru, who scored 12 of the first 15 points of the second quarter to take a nine-point lead, Henry McGrath dropping in the last four of those 12. Peter McGrath sank a back-cut layup with 9.3 seconds left to make it 34-26 at the half.

But that was just the start. Marquette connected on 7 of 11 tries in the third period, part of that a six-point, three-rebound burst by Charlie Mullen. The last came on a 3-pointer by Peter McGrath after two long passes went the length of the court in the final 2.8 seconds to beat the clock. It was Marquette 52, Midland 30.

“I thought our third quarter was great,” Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. “Not that we didn’t play well in the first half, but we really got after it in the third at both ends of the floor. [Denver] Trainor did an excellent job on [Faulkner], Peter had a heck of a game, and Carson [Zellers] played outstanding the whole game and in all aspects of the game. Henry’s been outstanding and Charlie has been, too.

“When you don’t play for two weeks, it’s almost like starting over … In the first half, Midland did some good things and when you’re just getting back on the horse, you have to ride a little bit and we ended up playing really well tonight.”

Peter McGrath scored 11 of his 20 points in the first four minutes of the fourth to ice the win. Trainor finished with 14 points and Mullen 10 for MA, which had Alec Novotney go to the bench in the third quarter with an injury. Gauwitz followed Faulkner’s 13 points with 10 of his own for the Timberwolves.

“Marquette’s a good team that plays hard and that’s something that we’ve struggled with this year” Midland coach Allen Hattan said. “We played really well at the beginning of the year and we’ve had some letdowns. We’ve had some good teams in recent years, but we’ve lost our leadership and we don’t have that guy that wants to step up and be the leader on the floor and it shows.

“In a game like this, when the tide starts to turn, we don’t have a guy to step up and be the one.”