DULUTH — Early on, it looks as if Duluth Marshall was going to run away with its matchup of state-ranked teams against Proctor on Wednesday.
The Hilltoppers jumped out to a 29-9 lead before the halfway point of the first half, with Chloe Johnson and Cairin Berger both scoring 11 points.
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Instead of letting the game slip away, the Rails kept playing hard and forced Marshall to grind out a 69-65 win.
It was unselfish play that got the Hilltoppers the big lead, according to coach C.J. Osuchukwu. They knew part of Proctor’s game plan was to pack the paint and force Johnson to kick the ball out to a shooter.
“The big thing is, we were super unselfish and we made shots,” he said. “Morgan (Lucero) made shots, Cairn made shots and that just stretched the lead out. Chloe is going to get her 30 every night, regardless, but when people can stretch the floor and make shots like that, it’s tough to beat a team like us.”
Johnson finished with 31 points and hit the game-clinching free throws in the closing seconds.
Proctor struggled with shot selection early in the first half and Chloe Carlson was given the unenviable task of guarding Johnson, one of the top prospects of her class in the country.
After Marshall’s Candice Ndomb made the lead 20 with a putback under the basket, coach Matt Solberg was forced to call a timeout. With Carlson spending a lot of energy guarding Johnson — and the Hilltoppers doing everything they could to stop her from scoring — other Rails needed to step up.
“In the first half, her role was to play defense and she did her job well,” Solberg said. “Our rotations were a little slow at times, that’s why they got some better looks than I would have liked. After a couple timeouts, we decided to start playing — it took until about the 9-minute mark for us to start playing the way we wanted to.”
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Carlson was held scoreless in the first half, but Paige Evans kept the Rails competitive. The senior guard scored 14 first-half points and finished with a team-high 23.
“She’s been our steadying force,” Solberg said. “Her shooting has improved over time. She used to be our defensive stopper and bring the ball up the floor. Now we’re asking her to shoot more. She had shots for us that were big in the first half to keep us within striking distance.”
And strike back the Rails did. After trailing by 16 at halftime, three of the Rails' first four baskets in the second half were from the perimeter. More importantly, two of those makes from 3-point range were Carlson and it wasn’t long before the Rails had the lead to less than 10 for the first time since it was 14-6.
“We needed to come back in the second half and that was a good way to get started,” Evans said. “Too bad we couldn’t get it done.”
Osuchukwu said the grit shown by Proctor wasn’t surprising and was a reflection of their coach.
“They don’t quit, they’re hungry and they’re going to compete,” he said. “They could be playing the (WNBA Las Vegas) Aces or they could be playing Two Harbors — regardless, they’re going to compete. Coming in, our thing was when they punch, we punch back. I think that’s what happened and we finally got a knockout punch at the end of the game.”
For the Hilltoppers, it was a big win over the seventh-ranked team in Class AA. In games against top-ranked Providence Academy and No. 4 Minnehaha Academy, the Hilltoppers have struggled, but that’s the point.
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“The games that we played early in the season, they helped us prepare for these bigger moments,” Berger said. “That really has helped us become who we are today as a team and helped us win tonight.”
Marshall also has losses to Class AAA No. 2 Alexandria and AAAA No. 2 Hopkins, but it’s all to get ready for the postseason.
“That’s why I made our schedule the way we made it,” Osuchukwu said. “Everybody said I was crazy, but I told the girls at the end of the day, the reason why we pulled that game out is we’ve been playing the best teams all year.”
With Class AA’s No. 2 team Crosby-Ironton also lurking in Section 7AA, it’s likely the Hilltoppers and Rails will play again in the section tournament.
“Obviously, this is a bump in the road,” Solberg said. “This is one we would liked to have had, but I’d like to see them again — and I imagine we will.”
Marshall (12-6) will host Northome/Kelliher at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Proctor (16-2) will host Grand Rapids at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
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