Cardinals freshmen step to head of the class
ASHWAUBENON – The kids were ready for prime time.
The top three scorers for Marshall’s girls basketball team are freshmen. They, however, played like upperclassmen Saturday, especially down the stretch when the Cardinals sealed a 6355 victory over Amherst in the WIAA Division 3 state championship game at the Resch Center.
The victory capped a 27-1 season and gave the Cardinals their first state championship since 1977, when they won the second of two straight titles.
Freshman point guard Mia Morel went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the final 32 seconds to help seal the victory. Before that Anna Lutz, a 6-foot freshman forward, hit a bucket and a free throw to give the team a four-point lead after Amherst trimmed an 11-point second-half lead to one with 4 minutes 10 seconds left.
Morel finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Lutz posted 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Forward Laura Nickel, another freshman, added 10 points and six rebounds.
Amherst (26-2) got 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks from 6-1 senior center Heather Pearson. Junior forward Geena Jensen scored 13 points and Lauren Boelte, another junior forward, added 10 points.
The Falcons dug holes in both halves. In the first half, they fell behind by 10 but came back to lead, 31-30, at the half. Marshall opened the second half with a 12-0 run from which Amherst couldn’t fully recover.
“We’re young but we proved everybody wrong,” Marshall coach Alex Koeller said. “People were doubting us from the start, that we weren’t ready to make it here. That is what we used as motivation for us. The girls played great.”