WOODSTOCK – With a big lead being chipped way, the plan for Rockford Lutheran was to press once.
Then once turned into twice and so on until it sucked the life out of Marengo’s upset hopes.
Top-seeded Rockford Lutheran’s pressure defense was too much down the stretch for the seventh-seeded Indians to overcome as they dropped an 85-55 contest in the Class 2A Marian Central Regional championship game Friday.
After cutting a 14-point halftime deficit down to just two possessions, Marengo committed three straight turnovers in an 11-0 run for Lutheran (25-6) then had several more to start a 22-5 fourth quarter against a Lutheran team that now has won 16 straight for a reason.
For the game, Marengo (16-15) had 17 turnovers, with eight of them coming over the final 9:45 of the game.
“It felt like … it compounded on us real quick,” Marengo coach Nate Wright said. “It was like 10 or so 50-50 situations went against us. Basketball is a game of runs. We got a run, but we just couldn’t limit their run enough.”
The final score made things a bit deceiving. Outside of a big spurt to end the second quarter, Marengo was within 10 points the majority of the first half. That was while the Crusaders were scorching from the 3-point line, hitting 10 of 20 from deep, including three key deep balls late that lifted the advantage to 48-34 at halftime.
But behind senior Matt Volkening, the Indians made a run. He scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in a 12-2 third-quarter run that culminated with a 3-point play to make it a 50-46 contest with 4:17 to play in the period.
“We knew we had to come out and close out harder,” Volkening said. “I think we got it to four points, but some calls didn’t go our way and that really transitioned the game into a wider gap than we could withstand.
“We played hard, and we played a great game honestly. We played tough. We didn’t stop. We played the whole game as hard as we could. I was proud of the guys for sure.”
Coming out of a timeout, however, during which Rockford Lutheran coach Tom Guse emphasized remaining calm, the Crusaders began to pressure the ball, creating steals near half-court and leading to easy layups in transition. By the end of the period it was in double digits again (63-50) before a 13-0 run led by more steals put it away to start the fourth.
“This group is very relaxed to begin with,” Guse said. “We play some really good competition throughout the year, and we’ve been in these situations. They understand that Marengo’s got a lot of pride and is a good team. But there was zero panic, and it’s been consistent all year long.
“We were only going to press one possession, but then it worked so we stayed with it the rest of the game.”
Walt Hill Jr. was almost impossible for Marengo to slow down. He hit 6 of 13 from the 3-point line on his way to scoring a game-high 36 points. Jackson Soles hit four deep 3-pointers in the first half to finish with 12 points, and Blake Broege had 10 points.
In addition to Volkening’s solid game, Preston Bailey poured in 16 points for Marengo, including 11 in the second quarter to keep Marengo close. Josh Holst totaled 12 points.