Marshall senior Tatiana Walker doesn’t mind that she doesn’t get the attention that teammates Sarah Rogers, Terranika Reynolds and Adrienne GodBold draw.
That just leaves her open to spark a run like she did Saturday to help Marshall win the Class 3A championship over Freeport.
“I will sneak up on people,” Walker said. “They don’t know to watch me. I just maintain my focus and keep it quiet.”
Freeport pulled ahead 28-24 in the third quarter before Walker stepped in.
The 5-foot-6-inch guard hit two jumpers and a layup in a 6-0 run to put Marshall back on top with 3 minutes 50 seconds to play in the quarter. The Commandos didn’t trail again.
Walker finished with 13 points and three rebounds.
“It showed me some heart from Tatiana that I hadn’t seen before,” Rogers said. “She’s a great player, and she honestly came out of the clear blue with her efforts. We were surprised by her. Her making those three shots — she’s so small — it showed her competitiveness.”
Rogers called Walker “overlooked and definitely underrated,” saying she often will stay quiet around the media. Walker entered the state tournament averaging 7.5 points and 2.8 rebounds this season and doesn’t have a college scholarship offer.
She’s hoping that will change
Her role in Marshall’s semifinal win over Quincy Notre Dame on Friday was just as big. With the Commandos trailing by four points with 21 seconds to play, Walker hit two free throws, stole the ball and hit two more foul shots to send the game to overtime.
She then scored four points in the final 41 seconds of overtime.
Walker finished the two games with 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals.
“I just knew that we were down and we had to do it some way,” Walker said. “I did what I had to do to help my team out.”
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ckane@tribune.com
