TRAVERSE CITY — Something had to give when the winless Traverse City Central Trojans hosted winless Marquette in varsity girls basketball action Friday.
The Trojans came into their home game with an 0-2 record, while the Sentinels were off to an 0-3 start to the 2024-25 season. Central and first-year head coach Matt Gorman are still searching for win No. 1 after a 47-36 loss to Marquette.
“Anytime a new coach comes in, there’s definitely some connections and relationships that have to be formed,” Gorman said. “There’s a conditioning piece to this. There’s an execution piece that we’re not quite hitting yet.”
Prospects for avoiding their first 0-3 start since the 2019-20 season looked good early on for the Trojans as they built a 9-3 lead on the Sentinels after a long jumper from Kasen Kitzmiller. But Marquette finished the quarter on a 10-2 run, punctuated by Brianna Anderson’s bank-shot 3-pointer from 30 feet at the buzzer.
Scoring was at a premium in the second quarter after an early layup from Hayley Taylor extended the Sentinel lead to four at 15-11. Both squads went scoreless for nearly four minutes before Lucia France hauled in several offensive boards and then made a tough, contested layup to make it 15-13.
Taylor later made a three to put Marquette up 21-15, but Marlie McGregor answered with a triple of her own to keep the Trojans within striking distance at 21-18 going into the locker room at halftime.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, their offensive struggles continued in the third quarter as Marquette’s hounding defense kept Central off the board until Jakiah Brumfield connected on a 3-pointer with just 11 seconds left in the frame. After three quarters of play, it was the Sentinels with a 10-point lead at 31-21.
“It didn’t feel smooth at any point tonight on offense,” Gorman said.
The Trojans didn’t wait long in the fourth quarter to get their first bucket.
Lorelai Zielinski made a layup less than a minute in, pulling Central within eight at 31-23. Anderson answered with a triple for an 11-point cushion, but Brumfield drove the lane for a bucket and France grabbed another offensive board and made the putback to give the Trojans a little momentum with 5:18 to play.
Taylor then knocked in two free throws and a short jumper, pushing the Marquette lead back to 11. But the Trojans kept fighting, and McGregor connected from long range again to keep Central close at 38-30.
The Trojans and Sentinels went back and forth, and another McGregor three got the deficit back to eight. But it was too little too late with 45 seconds left.
Brumfield led the Trojans with 11 points, three steals and a block. France finished with 10 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks, and McGregor tallied nine points on a trio of triples. Zielinski ended with four points and nine boards.
Anderson and Taylor led the Sentinels with 20 and 14 points, respectively. Alexis Curran chipped in with seven, and Aubree Blackburn had five.
Gorman said turnovers have been an issue for the Trojans as they committed more than 30 in their first game but then cut that down to 17 in their second game. Despite Marquette’s frenzied defense, the Trojans had just 10 turnovers Friday.
“One of our goals was to keep it under 15 turnovers, but we didn’t execute as well as we had,” Gorman said. “Some of the bunnies (easy layups), we just didn’t finish tonight. We shot 27 percent, and it’s tough to win a game like that.”
Gorman said to have even been in the game late with that shooting percentage speaks to the Trojans’ defensive effort.
“Part of that is our spacing and finishing strong and making calls happen,” he said. “We play a really tough nonconference schedule. Marquette is a good team. They’re younger, but they’ve been playing together for the last couple years.”
Despite the 0-3 start, Gorman still feels confident in the reigning Big North Conference champions.
“I’m not worried,” he said. “We’re thinking February. The past couple years, we’ve started 0-2 or 0-3 and then rip off a run. That’s what happens.”
Central begins its defense of the Big North with two games next week, visiting Cadillac on Tuesday and then hosting Gaylord on Thursday.
“We probably should’ve been picked for the conference championship this year, and that’s our goal,” he said. “We want to win it again and win a district. The vision is always about where we’re going to be in February.”