GLEN CARBON - Going into this Catholic school showdown, Marquette and Father McGivney was basketball teams on the rise, especially McGivney. The Griffins had won four straight coming into Friday night when they hosted Marquette, and ran into a brick wall, losing 73-51.
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This was a huge win for Marquette in a contest that looked to be tight and competitive, especially with the quality of basketball Father McGivney has been playing the past few weeks. Marquette’s dynamic attack, a mix of three-pointers and up-tempo fast-break offense, never gave McGivney a chance.
“If we stick to doing our job, we’re going to be fine.” said Marquette Explorers head coach Cody Best said following his team’s big win. “Whether it’s getting BK (Explorers guard Brayden Kline) scoring, getting our rebounds, Parker (Macias) being a floor general, if we stick to our job we’ll be just fine.”
The Explorers were more than fine at Father McGivney Friday night. Brayden Kline once again led the offense, continuing his scoring rampage this season. Kline’s ability to shoot the three-pointer has drastically improved in his junior season, and he added four threes en route to a 23-point evening to lead Marquette in the big win.
“Conference games are always a little more hyped up, a little more fun to play.” said Kline postgame. “We just want to come out and make this our house, we have guys who can knock down shots in transition and that’s definitely the style we were able to play.”
Marquette was so relentless on offense that a solid shooting night for a few Father McGivney scorers was all for naught. Father McGivney were led by Jack Rodgers with 16 points on the evening, but the Griffins couldn’t keep up with Marquette’s pace and shooting ability.
As Jack Kline alluded to, Marquette’s pace in transition, and of course their ability to finish, put the game out of reach before it really started. The Griffins shot fairly well from deep, but had trouble at the line, and simply couldn’t keep up on Friday night.
Marquette turns their attention to the undefeated Christ Our Rock Lutheran, where they’ll travel to Clinton County to face the Silver Stallions, who are 16-0, and defeated Bunker Hill 69-39 on Friday night. Explorers head coach Cody Best knows how tough Saturday’s game will be.
“We know who we have tomorrow, 15 straight wins, and we’re going a little far away.” said Best after the game. “So we’re going to have to find somebody to find more energy tomorrow. That’s all I think I’m worried about.”
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