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Marshall thwarts Lisle in second half

And that's why they play four quarters.

The top-seeded Lisle girls basketball team knew it would have its collective hands full with the No. 2 seed in a Class 2A sectional final, Chicago Marshall, the two-time defending state champion.

To the Lions' credit, they kept the game close through the first two quarters, behind by just 3 points at the half.

But then came the third quarter, and wow ... let's just say Marshall asserted itself.

The Commandos used runs of 13-2 and 7-0 in that period to dispatch the Lions 64-30 and move on to the Peotone supersectional Monday.

Half of Lisle's points came off the hand of junior Cassidy Allen, who had 8 in the first half. But she managed to score her team's only basket in the fourth quarter.

It was a tough night, but the bright side is the Lions have everyone returning next season and will get back sophomore guard Emma Webb, a starter who's been out with an ACL injury.

"We've been together since freshman year, and a lot of them have played before this," Allen said. "I've played with a bunch of them on travel teams. We've all had a really great bond, and since the beginning of the season, we've been really excited about next year."

The Commandos are big, fast, athletic and knew just what to do - stop Lisle junior guard Emma Rossin, who had 15 points in the sectional semifinal win against Chicago Woodlawn.

"We probably played a style they're not used to," Marshall coach Dorothy Gaters said. "No. 23 (Rossin) is a fabulous shooter, so we wanted to take her out today, as well as No. 12," junior point guard Tara Kane.

Added Marshall junior guard Jayonna Smith: "We had watched their game after our game (Tuesday). We figured out who could do what, and we were focused on stopping dribble penetration and open shots."

Smith led all scorers with 21 points but didn't even figure into the 13-2 spurt coming out of the halftime locker room. Four other players scored.

Yeah, that's how good Marshall is.

But again, when it comes to Lisle, think silver linings, like a school-record 27 wins and a conference championship.

"We're all coming back, and we've got some unfinished business to take care of," Lisle coach Nick Balaban said. "(We got) that first sectional championship in 16 years, second in school history. Now we've got to take that next step."

After Allen, junior center Jenna Johnston had 4 points. Quality minutes were also turned in by sophomore forward Kylie Russell, who recorded a pair of blocks. Rossin had 2 points and 2 rebounds.

"It took the two-time, back-to-back defending state champions to knock us out of this thing," Balaban said. "That's a heck of a year. Now we have to try to take the next step. We have to try to win a sectional championship."

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