Seneca change of pace leads way to Tip-Off title win over Marquette

SERENA – The Seneca vs. Marquette championship game of the inaugural Husker Hardcourt Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday night at Al Stegman Court could have easily been headlined “The Paxton Giertz versus Alec Novotney Show,” as the two are star players on teams being developed around them.

But when the two were limited to a combined 15 points at the half, the Fighting Irish reverted to their old standby – intense, extended defense – to change the pace.

Following an 8-6 Cru lead after one period, Seneca turned up the pressure to force seven Marquette turnovers in the second stanza, helping the Irish score 16 of the next 22 points and form a lead that would remain double-digits for the remainder of a 49-39 title-game victory.

Giertz, who netted just nine points through the first 20-plus minutes of the contest, still managed to end up with a game-best 26 to stroll away with the tournament’s MVP honor.

Novotney was no slouch, bouncing back from just nine points through three quarters to finish with 20 and take one of the five all-tournament spots, along with Marquette teammate Griffin Dobberstein. Also named all-tourney were Serena’s Beau Raikes, Hall’s Wyatt West and Newark’s Dylan Long.

For the game, the Irish defense turned the tide by forcing 23 MA turnovers.

“Our youth at certain spots showed when they went to their gimmicks to take Pax away. The kids kind of froze for a bit,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said, “so we had to change the tempo. … We set out after the first quarter to get the tempo back in our favor. We went to the press defense, started to get them to scramble a little bit, which was advantageous to us.

“But trust me, Marquette will be a different team in a month than they are right now. Some fatigue set in for certain kids, and we’re in decent shape, but they’re gonna be much better the next time we see them.”

Marquette now leads the all-time series between the two schools 61-51.

Two buckets each by Novotney and Lucas Craig, paired with some chilly Seneca shooting (3-of-11), put the Cru on top, but the tempo change kicked in quickly. Brady Sheedy took a rebound coast-to-coast, and Grant Siegel scored in the lane to put the Irish on top for good with 6:10 of the second before Giertz chipped in seven points, his two tosses capping a 22-12 edge.

“When the team gets the ball to me,” Giertz said, “the other teams tend to ball-watch, and that allows me to look for other chances not for my own shot, but to facilitate to others for open shots too. The guys stepped up well, and that opened things up for all of us.”

The lead kept growing slightly until a Giertz 16-footer ended the third quarter with the Irish up 39-21.

To the Crusaders’ credit they battled back, but even with the suddenly-hot Novotney’s 11 points in the fourth, Giertz nearly matched it with nine, and the deficit remained at least 10.

“At that point, when (Novotney or Giertz) were doing a lot of scoring, it showed that we don’t really have a lot in right now,” Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. “I couldn’t throw a lot at them this early and overload them, and that showed tonight. We didn’t have things in, but our effort was there, we rebounded well, didn’t shoot great, but we battled with them.

“I do know we’ll get better, that’s for sure, and we’ll see what happens when we get another crack at them. We’ll see.

“But give Seneca credit. Their defense was really, really good tonight … and I know Giertz had 26, but he earned every single one of them tonight. That he paced the game when he wasn’t scoring so much was a factor, too. He’s just a good player; they’re a good team.”