Marquette, Fieldcrest open 2024-25 campaign with victories

FLANAGAN – The opening day of girls basketball season tends to bring a lot of turnovers, fouls and missed bunnies as teams compete for the first time.

That was the case Monday on the opening day of the Flanagan half of the Falcon-Irish Thanksgiving Tournament. It also, however, brought hard-earned opening-season victories for both Marquette and Fieldcrest, which both used big middle quarters and then held on late to move to 1-0 on the young season.

Pool play continues Tuesday and Wednesday both in Flanagan and in the Seneca pool, with the place games Saturday in Flanagan.

Marquette 46, Peoria Manual 34

The Crusaders had a tough time taking care of the basketball, committing 34 turnovers on the night, and trailed by two points at the half, but used a 12-point third-quarter explosion from senior guard Chloe Larson to pass and pull away from the Rams.

“We had quite a few turnovers in the first half, but I thought we settled down in the second half,” Marquette coach Eric Price said. “That being said, we still had too many turnovers, but we hit some key shots when we needed them, and I thought with the size disadvantage we did a good job rebounding.”

Trailing 12-10 after a sloppy first half that saw 27 combined turnovers and 22 combined points scored, Marquette needed just the first 13 seconds of the third quarter to take the lead for good when smooth sophomore Kaitlyn Davis (game-high 15 points, 12 rebounds) drained a 3-pointer.

Larson then scored six quick points, point guard Hunter Hopkins (eight points, three assists, eight steals) canned a 3, Kelsey Cuchra (six points, 11 rebounds) added a bucket, and Larson (14 points, five rebounds) answered Manual’s mini-run attempt to stay in the game with a pair of back-breaking 3s to close out the quarter.

“I struggled in the first half with a few turnovers,” Larson said, “so I came back out and disciplined myself. If I can’t dribble the ball well, I guess I should start shooting the ball well.

“So I got in there, just tried to be strong with the ball, and when I was open i just took the shot.”

The Rams – led by junior wing Breyasia Grayson’s 10-point, nine-rebound, four-assist, five-steal performance – drew as close as six points, 40-34, with 1:38 remaining. A Davis free throw snapped a nearly three-minute Marquette scoring drought, though, and began the Cru on a game-ending 6-0 run to start out 1-0 ahead of Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. game with Fieldcrest.

Fieldcrest 47, FCW 41

Fieldcrest junior Macy Gochanour’s middle-quarter shooting exhibition – 14 points including four 3s in the second quarter, nine points including one trey in the third – proved to be too much for host Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland to overcome.

The host Falcons sure tried, though. FCW fought back from a 17-point deficit through three quarters (42-25) to get as close as three points (44-41) after back-to-back Emma Palaschak buckets in the middle of the fourth. Palaschak’s 3-pointer that made it 44-41 with 3:45 remaining proved to be the Falcons’ final points, and the Knights used a Madeline Theesfield putback and Gochanour free throw to survive the scare.

“[Macy’s] a great player, high basketball IQ,” Fieldcrest coach Nathan Ehrhardt said. “She’s a player we’re going to lean on with her varsity experience.

“We did [let it get a little closer than I would’ve liked]. Some of our youth shined through in moments like that. We have a young team ... and it’s a learning curve, but as long as we keep getting those key plays and learning for it, it’s just going to take a little bit for us to get there.”

The big second and third quarters by Gochanour, who finished with a game-high 26 points, proved to be the difference.

“I just think my team was looking for me and seeing me when I was open,” Gochanour said. “I think our [team] stepped up a lot more and took control of the game when we needed to.

“We’re working really well together. It’ll just get better as the season goes on.”

In addition to Gochanour’s 26-point, five-rebound game, TeriLynn Timmerman posted nine points, five rebounds and six assists. Pru Mangan scored three points to go with her game-best 10 rebounds.

FCW, which plays Manual at 7 p.m. Tuesday, was led by Palaschak’s 20 points – 13 of those scored in the frantic fourth-quarter comeback attempt – along with a 10-point, eight-rebound, three-assist, seven-steal performance by senior Ella Derossett. Kora Edens added four points and six rebounds.

“We’re going to need scoring from everybody who’s on the floor, not just one or two players,” FCW coach Danielle Pollitt said. “We didn’t take advantage of some opportunities, and our shooting percentage was not that good. If we would’ve made our free throws, we would’ve won ... but we’re still growing here.

“To see where we’ve come the past couple years and to compete with Fieldcrest like this, that’s huge.”