After an opening quarter that saw Hinckley-Big Rock record all seven of their field goals right at the rim, Marquette coach Todd Hopkins went to a 2-3 zone to start the second, a defense that the Crusaders haven’t played much this season.
While the adjustment slowed down the Royals attack in the paint, Marquette junior guard Griffin Dobberstein sparked his team with eight points in the final four minutes of the first half to turn a three-point deficit into a seven-point halftime lead.
The Crusaders (25-8) refused to give up the lead in the second half to Hinckley-Big Rock (23-9) and eventually survived with a 54-51 triumph in the semifinals of the Class 1A Amboy Sectional.
Marquette will play the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between Woodland and Indian Creek at 7 p.m. on Friday.
“I feel like going to zone slowed them down a little bit, but I also thought our length inside the zone was a big factor,” Hopkins said. “With having [6-foot-6 sophomore] Luke [McCullough] in the middle and playing a little higher up he can really disrupt things.
“Tonight, we played a 2-3 zone more than we have all season combined. They really hurt us off the drive in the first quarter, so we needed to shift gears, go zone, and hopefully make them more of a perimeter team. I thought despite not playing that defense really all season we did a good job in it.
“I also thought we handled their full-court pressure pretty well. That was a concern coming in, and while we had a few mistakes, we also were able to convert a few times after breaking the press.”
H-BR, behind Marshall Ledbetter scoring 10 points, led 16-13 after the first period and held a 23-20 lead after Judah Miceli’s 3-pointer with just over four minutes remaining in the first half.
Doberstein then sank back-to-back triples, Blayden Cassel netted an offensive rebound and the former scored on a spinning drive in the lane to put Marquette up 30-23 at the intermission.
“We started out in man, but wow were they athletic and quick,” Dobberstein said. “They were just taking it to us. We switched to zone, and we haven’t played a lot of 2-3 this year, but I felt like it slowed the game down for us a little.
“[At the end of the first half] I was able to free for a couple 3s and the spin move was just trying to make a play. Everyone stepped up tonight at certain times and those couple of possessions it was just my turn.”
Marquette pushed the lead to 37-27 at the 5:19 mark of the third on a three-point play by Alec Novotney before consecutive hoops from Luke Badal helped close the gap to 39-34 after three.
In the fourth, H-BR was able to get to within two points three times, but on every occasion, Marquette had the answer, including Novotney hitting 4 of 4 from the line in the final minute.
Novotney led Marquette with 21 points and four assists, while McCullough had 11 points and seven rebounds. Dobberstein finished with nine points and five rebounds, Cassel seven points, eight rebounds and four blocks, and Lucas Craig six points.
Ledbetter led the Royals with 21 points and a game-best 12 rebounds, while Badal ended with 17 points and six rebounds.
Marquette was 20 of 53 [38%] from the floor while H-BR hit 21 of 49 [43%]. Each side pulled down 33 rebounds, but the Crusaders won the turnover battle 12-17.
“Them going to zone really slowed us down,’ H-BR coach Seth Sanderson said. ”I felt like we became a little too passive and a little to unselfish against it. The zone also really took away our transition game and all season we’ve been at our best when we’ve been able to get out and run and push the pace.
“It was one of those games where Marquette put together a nice spurt to end the first half, scored a couple times early in the second half and then from there any time we’d close the gap they’d have an answer for it. We just couldn’t find a way to get back even.
“In the fourth we made it a one possession game a handful of times but just couldn’t get that next basket when we needed it.”