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Wildcats fall to Marquette in districts

MARQUETTE-It is rare that a playoff game’s outcome is determined by halftime, but the Marquette Redettes were just that good Tuesday night.

Marquette opened the game with a 12-0 run and later put the contest away early with a 22-0 surge that extended into the second quarter in a 75-32 blowout win over Alpena.

Terese Ledy led the Redettes with 19 points, while Amber Huebner had 12. Jasmyn Schultz and Morgan Allen had eight and seven points respectively for Alpena.

“I didn’t think the game would go this way because they’ve had a good year,” Marquette head coach Ben Smith said. “The thing about the districts is that it’s a one-game thing. They play some zone and they get after you full-court, so we had to make good reads. Initially, we made some decent decisions and made some plays. We then used our press to change the course of the game.”

Marquette’s opening run was highlighted by a steal and layup from Ledy and a bucket from Stasha Warchock off of a nice pass from Huebner. After Alpena got on the scoreboard on a jumper by Shelby Seaver and a free throw from Alexis Smith, the Redettes kept on rolling.

The two-quarter run began with a Ledy jumper followed by a steal and layup and trey from Huebner to end the first quarter. Ledy then added a 3-pointer of her own along with a four-point play to start the second. Huebner later picked off an Alpena pass and took it to the other end for another bucket. By the time the run was over, the Redettes held a ridiculous 31-point advantage.

“That run kind of put the game away,” Smith said. “One of the keys to that is every kid dug in and did their job. It wasn’t necessarily one girl, it was everyone making plays.”

The frustration boiled over for the Wildcats (13-8) late in the second as the coaching staff was assessed a technical foul. Marquette held a 39-10 lead at the break.

“We’re really proud of the work the team put in this year. We’re looking forward to next year,” Alpena co-head coach Kelley Miko said. “We’ll miss the ones that are leaving. They were a huge part of what we accomplished this year.”

In the second half, it was more of the same for the Redettes. Izzie Peterson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers for Marquette to open the third quarter and Mo Miller added two buckets a couple minutes later. At the end of the third quarter, Marquette was up 55-21.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Redettes’ starters were pulled and the backups played out the rest of the game. Alpena was also whistled for another technical foul in the period.

Marquette hosts Traverse City Central at 6 p.m. tonight in the district semifinal. If the Redettes win, they will take on the Petoskey-Gaylord winner Friday.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.

Marquette 75, Alpena 32

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

ALPENA -Allen, 3-0-7; Smith, 0-2-2; Jore, 0-1-1; Dzuris, 0-1-1; Barkley, 1-0-2; Schultz, 2-4-8; Seaver, 2-1-5; Murphy, 1-0-3; Britton, 1-0-3. Totals, 10-9-32.

MARQUETTE-Peterson, 2-0-6; Huebner, 4-3-12; T. Ledy, 6-3-19; Johnson, 1-0-2; Grange, 1-2-4; Miller, 2-5-9; Iwanicki, 1-0-2; Warchock, 1-1-3; Ryba, 0-2-2; Ch. Hale, 0-5-5; Hicks, 1-2-5, A. Ledy, 1-0-2, Sydney, 1-2-4. Totals, 21-25-75.

Score by quarters:

Alpena 3 7 11 11 – 32

Marquette 21 18 16 20 – 75

FG shooting: Alpena, unavailable; Marquette, 21 of 53 (39.6 percent); FT shooting: Alpena, 9 of 22 (40.9 percent); Marquette, 25 of 40 (62.5 percent); Rebounding, Alpena, unavailable; Marquette, 46 (Kelsey Grange, 8).

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