Girls basketball: Hall overcomes slow start better, tops Marquette Academy

SPRING VALLEY – The opening half of Saturday morning’s nonconference girls basketball game between Marquette Academy and Hall had both coaches a little speechless and scratching their heads.

The Red Devils eventually captured a 32-29 victory over the Crusaders at Red Devil Gymnasium after the teams combined to make good on 6 of 58 shots in the opening 16 minutes and the hosts led just 10-8.

Both teams picked up the pace in the final 12 minutes, and Hall survived a chance for the visitors to tie the contest in the final few seconds.

“We have been on a bit of a slide as of late and we have a couple girls banged up a little,” said Hall coach T.J. Orlandi, his squad now 14-11. “We haven’t gotten off to great starts the past few games on the offensive end but have made up for it with solid defense.”

Hall’s McKenna Christiansen shook off a tough first half to knock down a trio of 3-pointers in the second half and finish with a game-high 14 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Toni Newton added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while Promise Giacometti (six rebounds) and Kennedy Wozniak (three assists) chipped in three points each.

“We talked at halftime about how the shots would start falling, for both teams, and that we had to stay positive despite the rough first half,” Orlandi said. “McKenna came out and was finally able to get a 3 to fall there in the middle of the third, and I think that kind of helped everyone relax and just play basketball.

“A couple times we had a five- or six-point lead, but then turned the ball over a couple times and Marquette converted to tighten things up. It for sure wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win and we’ll take it.”

Hall held a 21-16 lead to begin the fourth quarter, then extended it on a drive and triple by Christiansen.

Marquette exploded for a 10-0 run to tie the game as Eva McCallum scored on a pair of drives and a free throw with Morgan Nelson and Keely Nelson adding hoops going to the basket.

Christiansen sank another 3 with three minutes to play and Newton added a layup seconds later, but the Crusaders closed back within two on a McCallum 15-foot jumper and free toss.

From there, Wozniak hit the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds remaining but missed the second and Marquette rebounded and called timeout.

The Crusaders were unable to get the potential tying 3-pointer off before the horn sounded.

McCallum paced Marquette (12-13) with 13 points and six rebounds. Morgan Nelson had six points and seven rebounds, Keely Nelson had five points and 10 rebounds ,and Lilly Craig (nine rebounds) and Avery Durdan (10 rebounds) added four points each.

Hall finished the contest hitting 23% (12 of 52) overall from the field, including 14% (3 of 22) from beyond the arc, while Marquette sank 19% (10 of 53) and 15% (4 of 26).

“I don’t think either coach is happy with how this game went except for them ending up with the win,” Marquette coach Eric Price said. “You know what, this was a Saturday morning tip, but you have to be ready to play when the ball goes up. There is no excuse for a 10-8 score at halftime ... at all. We were two steps slow all game.

“Both teams really struggled in the first half to get anything going. Things picked up midway into the third quarter on both sides and it started to look like a basketball game out there. We talked about who their shooter was, but then we left her wide open two or three times and she knocked it down.

“With how much of a struggle it was for us today, we still had a chance to send the game into overtime in the final seconds. But then we had a look and didn’t take it and ran out of time.”