Amboy overcomes slow start to beat Marquette for regional title

PERU - Senior Addison Pertell was the first Amboy-Ohio player to climb the ladder with a pair of scissors.

Pertell reached up and opened the scissors, but was stopped by her coaches below. After a bit of coaching, Pertell got the cutting down and claimed her piece of the net.

“They explained what we were doing and I knew what I was supposed to do, but I’m just so happy and I was caught up in the moment that it took me a second to get it,” Pertell said with a laugh.

Pertell and her Clipper teammates had plenty to be happy about after defeating Marquette 47-29 to win the Class 1A St. Bede Regional on Thursday.

“This is super important to our group because we’ve been playing together since middle school,” said Pertell, who was on last year’s team that lost in a regional final. “I know it’s been something we all wanted, so to get it together and know that we did that, it’s incredible.”

It’s the Clippers first regional title since 2020.

“It feels great,” Amboy junior Bella Yanos said. “We worked our butts off this whole entire season for this moment. At the beginning of the season, I didn’t think we were going to make it this far and get 25 wins, but we got here and got a regional championship.”

The Clippers (25-7), who advance to play Morgan Park Academy in the Hinckley-Big Rock Sectional at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, started the season 2-4 but have gone 23-3 since.

Thursday’s game played out in a similar fashion as Amboy started slow.

The Clippers did not make a field goal in the first 5:15 and fell behind 8-3 and 11-5 before going into the second quarter down 11-8.

Amboy limited the Crusaders to just two free throws in the second quarter while scoring 14 points to build a 22-13 halftime lead.

“After a bad start, we played pretty well,” Amboy coach Mike McCracken said. “Our defense was great for a long time.

“We shot pretty well in that stretch where we got ahead 22-13. At that point, we had confidence.”

Marquette sharpshooter Kaitlyn Davis, who made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points in the regional semifinal, drained a deep 3 with a minute left in the first quarter - to eclipse 1,000 points for her career - to give the Crusaders an 11-5 lead, but was held to just one free throw the rest of the way.

“With our matchup 2-3 zone, wherever she was, that person was way out on her,” McCracken said. “That’s what our plan was. She didn’t have a lot of easy shots. She’s just sensational.”

In their regional semifinal, the Crusaders erased a six-point halftime deficit with a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, but Amboy never let Marquette back in the game.

The Clippers had an 8-0 run midway through the third to double up the Crusaders at 30-15 and led 38-16 going to the fourth quarter.

Marquette put on a trap in the fourth quarter to try to get back into the game and got as close as 11 points, but Amboy hit 7-of-10 free throws in the final 1:26.

“It didn’t go as we hoped,” Marquette coach Eric Price said. “We came out with an 8-3 lead then they went on a 19-5 run. We couldn’t really recover from that. It seemed like even when you get a miss, they’d end up with the rebound or the loose ball. We were just a step slow at times. They’re a good team. They’re good at what they do.”

Yanos led the Clippers with 14 points, while Pertell had 10 points and Tyrah Vaessen added eight.

Kelsey Cuchra led Marquette with nine points, while Hunter Hopkins had seven points and Davis added four. All three are sophomores.

“I’m happy for (Davis),” Price said. “She puts a lot of work in and she gets rewarded for that. I know tonight didn’t go as planned for her, but the defense shifted her way to eliminate some of her looks. She’s had a phenomenal two years. It’s not common for a sophomore to get 1,000 points. She has a bright future.”

Marquette finishes 21-11.

“I’m happy,” Price said about the season. “We have nothing to be ashamed of. We’re a young team and we’ll be back. It’s just got to take some time. You take some lumps when you’re young. Tonight was one of those nights you take your lumps and you let it settle in, absorb what happened and then get back at it.”

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Members of the Amboy/Ohio girls basketball team react after winning the Class 1A Regional championship over Marquette on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025 at St. Bede Academy. (Scott Anderson)