ALTON - It is fair to say that the Marquette Catholic High School boys basketball team is on a roll this season.
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With the offensive strengths seeping from the pores of each and every member on their team, the Explorers have been enjoying the ride as win after win is added to their standings.
Friday night against the Brussels High School Raiders, the Explorers showed that their offense was still on point as they extended their win streak to six games after winning the night’s game by 40 points at a score with 59-19 at the final buzzer.
Although his team won with quite a heavy lead, Marquette head coach Steve Medford is always pushing his team to do more.
“We didn’t play really well tonight, but we seemed to be more of a talented team,” he said. “I thought we defended well. Although we probably haven’t shot as well as we have had in the past, we got a lot of easy baskets and got the turnovers. I thought maybe in the first we were a bit overaggressive and we didn’t really stay square defensively.”
Brussels head coach Mark Hillen kept his composure after the tough loss.
“My biggest disappointment in this game was not that we were clearly not scoring,” he said. “I knew that they were going to be physical. My big concerns were when they got their reserves in in the fourth quarter, our defense intensity dropped and made the score look a lot worse. I just wanted to finish the game and not give into my emotions.”
Marquette got the night started with a two baskets in a row by seniors Ben Sebacher and Shandon Boone. Junior Keaton Rose locked down a basket for the Raiders before senior Trey Aguirre could land two successful free throws to bring the score to 6-2 in Marquette’s favor. Sophomore Reagan Snider furthered the Explorers’ lead by bringing in his first of several three-pointers of the evening. Rose rebuttaled with a three-point shot himself to bring the score to 9-5. Brussels continued to trail after Sebacher locked down two more points from a rebound shot. As the sole scorer for his team this period, Rose brought in one more point from a free throw to lock in his team’s score at 6. In the final scoring play of the period for Marquette, junior Nick Messinger swooshed in a crisp three-pointer to bring the score of 14-6 in his team’s favor.
In the second quarter, senior Joey Ohlendorf brought in two points for the Raiders right away. A foul on Boone earned the Explorers one. Sebacher locked down a two-point shot before senior Tim Derrington came off of the bench and brought in a basket himself. Snider kept the Explorers’ momentum going with a three-pointer before Derrington could score again on a foul shot.
With the score at 23-8, the Raiders offense needed to come alive somehow. Rose produced another two-point shot to bring his team’s score to 10. Shortly after, Messinger locked in two more for Marquette. In their final score of the season, Boone extended the Explorers’ score to 27.
The Raiders could only bring one more point after a foul was committed on senior Nathan Stephens. The score at half was 27-11 in Marquette’s favor.
After the brief intermission, Marquette came out of the gate and kept that same offense going. Boone locked down a quick two points before Messinger could bring in two points from successful free throws. Then, Sebacher was able to tower among the defense to swoosh in two more for the Explorers. Boone kept his name in the running as one of the biggest point producers in the area after landing another basket for the period.
Unfortunately for Brussels, the only two points that their team could earn this period were courtesy of junior Brady Ellis’ two successful free throw shots.
To add insult to injury, Boone used his keen eye and pure talent to lock in a three-pointer just milliseconds before the buzzer went off, concluding the third with Marquette still in the lead with a score of 38-13.
Boone kicked off the final period with yet another three-pointer. Remaining as one of the Raiders’ last hopes, Rose produced another basket for his team. Following his basket, he brought in another point from the foul line. Senior Trevor Collins brought in four in a row from two baskets for Marquette before senior Mason Caselton swooshed in two points for the Raiders to bring the score to 45-18. Freshman Chris Hartrich came off the bench and locked down two points for Marquette. Messinger also produced two himself for the team to bring the score to 49-18.
In Brussels’ last play scoring play of the game, Rose attempted and made his final free throw attempt to freeze the Raiders’ score at 19.
Marquette wasn’t finished yet. Freshman Nick Hemann came off the bench to lock down five points in a row for the his team from two baskets and a free throw. Then, Snider brought in a two point shot. To wrap up the night, Erving swooshed in a three-pointer shortly before the final buzzer, earning the Explorers a 40-point win over the Raiders with a score of 59-19.
Boone lead the Explorers with 15 points added on to the scoreboard throughout the game. Messinger came up with nine points for his team whereas Sebacher and Snider both contributed eight points each. Hemann locked down five points in the fourth quarter. Collins brought in four points in the fourth as well. Erving and Derrington bouth locked down three points and their teammates Aguirre and Hartrich both swooshed in two.
Rose kept the Raiders offense alive with a total of 12 points contibuted over four quarters. Ohlendorf, Ellis and Caselton each brought in two points each. Stephens could lock down only one point from free throws.
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