Marquette responds late, holds off Hall in regular season finale

SPRING VALLEY - After a week off, Marquette girls basketball coach Eric Price wasn’t sure what to expect in Thursday’s regular season finale.

He was pleased with the result.

The Crusaders responded with a big shot after Hall took a late lead, made key defensive plays down the stretch and made free throws in the final minute and a half to win 52-45.

“We didn’t shoot great, but we hit some big shots when we needed to,” Price said. “We got to the free throw line in the second half, which was key. Defensively, we have to work a little bit harder. I thought we boxed out OK. They’re bigger than us but I thought we did OK rebounding. Overall, I’m happy with it. Now it’s regional time.”

The Crusaders (21-10) are a No. 3 seed in their subsectional and will play in the Class 1A St. Bede Regional.

“It’s very good (for our confidence),” Marquette senior Morgan Nelson said about winning the regular season finale. “Shooting wise, last time we played St. Bede we didn’t shoot that well. Hopefully we can go in shooting better.”

Marquette will likely face No. 5 St. Bede (19-12) in a regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Bruins play No. 11 Gardner-South Wilmington (6-22) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The Crusaders beat St. Bede in their first two meetings of the season (53-39 and 56-45) but lost 49-38 to the Bruins in the last matchup in the Tri-County Conference Tournament championship.

“We know each other pretty well,” Price said. “We have to be physical. We have to rebound. We have to play better defense than we have been and I think we’ll be OK. Rebounding is definitely a big thing with St. Bede because they’re so big. We don’t match up great with them.”

The Red Devils (16-13) head into the Class 2A Erie Regional as a No. 3 seed. Hall, which is 1-4 in its last five games - all decided by 10 points or less - plays No. 5 Oregon (13-15) or No. 11 Rock Falls (3-26) in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

“We feel like our last four games or so have been pretty tight down to the fourth quarter and we’ve just unfortunately been on the losing end of it,” Hall coach TJ Orlandi said. “I thought coming into this our defense had been playing pretty good and our offense was struggling. Tonight I thought our offense was much better and our defense wasn’t as good.

“If we play the defense we’ve been playing over the last couple and we can score like we did tonight, which we’ve been struggling with the past three games, I think we can do some things and compete (in the regional). We just have to put it together on both sides and see what happens.”

On Thursday, neither team led by more than six points until Marquette’s late free throws made the final margin seven.

Hall led 14-8 after the first quarter but the Crusaders sank three 3-pointers in the second quarter as they rallied to tie it at 23 by halftime.

Keely Nelson knocked down three 3s in the third quarter to help Marquette build a 40-34 lead - its largest of the night to that point - before a jumper with 3.9 seconds left by Ella Sterling made it 40-36 heading to the fourth.

The Crusaders held the lead in the fourth until Hall’s Natalia Zamora grabbed an air balled 3 and made a reverse layup to give the Red Devils a 45-44 advantage with 2:30 left.

However, Marquette had an immediate answer as Morgan Nelson drained a deep 3 to give the Crusaders the lead back for good at 47-45 with 2:19 to go.

“I just hoped it went in,” Morgan Nelson said about her 3. “It was good. It felt like we could keep it up and get a better lead.”

Down the stretch, Kelsey Cuchra stole a pass into the post, the Crusaders stripped the ball to force another turnover, Morgan Nelson rebounded Hall’s final two 3-point attempts and Hunter Hopkins made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:39.

The Crusaders made nine 3s in the game with three each from Morgan Nelson, Keely Nelson and Kaitlyn Davis.

Davis finished with 17 points, while Morgan Nelson and Hopkins scored 11 points each.

Sterling led the Red Devils with 17 points, while Zamora added nine.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 17

Marquette's Kaitlyn Davis grabs a rebound over Hall's Caroline Morris on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 at Hall High School. (Scott Anderson)