After a lengthy absence from the spotlight, Marshall’s girls basketball team stepped back into it Saturday with another championship performance.
The most decorated girls program in Illinois rallied from a four-point deficit in the third quarter to overcome Freeport 58-47 at Redbird Arena to win Class 3A and chalk up its eighth state title.
“This was definitely a special win for us,” Marshall senior Sarah Rogers said. “It’s my first championship game, and I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”
Probably for four years, because since Rogers was a freshman, Marshall hadn’t played for a Public League or state title.
She made this victory special for herself by posting game highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds in closing the books on Marshall’s 26-7 season.
This victory, the state-record 881st of Dorothy Gaters’ 33-year career, did not come easily.
Marshall led 22-18 at halftime, but the Pretzels (30-5) used a 10-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 28-24 lead. Caitlin Greene hit two three-pointers, and Suporia Dickens scored four of her team-high 15 points to fuel that surge.
Then Tatiana Walker sparked the Commandos’ comeback with three consecutive baskets for a 30-28 lead with 3:48 left in the quarter.
Freeport never led again.
“There have been so many winners for Dorothy, you always want to live up to the expectations as a Marshall champion, be part of that history and the tradition,” Rogers said. “It feels good to have a piece of metal in the trophy case.”
Marshall won its last state championship in 1999.The Commandos’ seven losses are the fourth-highest single-season total in Gaters’ 33 seasons. Marshall picked up four of those in its first seven games.
“We just had confidence, we knew we would be able to do it,” Adrienne GodBold said when asked about that 3-4 start.
GodBold said that the loss to Hope in the Public League championship game on Feb. 2 gave the Commandos some hope they could win another state title.
The 5-foot-11-inch junior, the tallest player on the Marshall roster, finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five steals. Walker added 13 points, and Terranika Reynolds had eight points and eight assists.
“We worked hard together as a team, and it felt like we were never going to reach this point,” Rogers said.
Relax. You did.
Marshall awe: Tallying the titles
Marshall’s Dorothy Gaters (right), the winningest coach–boys or girls–in Illinois basketball history, led the Commandos to their unprecedented eighth state championship Saturday. Her overall record in 33 years at Marshall is 881-121. A look at the Commandos’ titles:
%% YEAR REC TITLE GAME
’81-82 32-0 d. E. St. Louis Lincoln 57-49
’84-85 30-1 d. Wheaton Central 63-37
’88-89 33-2 d. New Trier 56-50 (OT)
’89-90 27-5 d. West Aurora 65-49
’91-92 31-1 d. Bartonville Limestone 48-46
’92-93 31-1 d. Maine West 44-41
’98-99 31-1 d. Galesburg 68-56
’07-08 26-7 d. Freeport 58-47 %%
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