Marist Girls Basketball Sports a Mighty Cast of Super Heroes

Marist boasts the high school girls basketball version of Batman and Robin.

JeTaun Rouse and Leah Bolton lead the RedHawks’ fight for all that’s good with their explosive moves on the offensive end and their quick hands on defense.

But don’t forget about the supporting cast of caped crusaders that have backed them up every step of the way during a storybook season.

Marist (32-1) picked up contributions up-and-down a loaded roster in a 52-32 victory over Lincoln-Way East on Thursday night in the championship game of the Class 4A Sandburg Sectional. Senior forward Asia Bey grabbed nine of her 10 rebounds in the first half when the RedHawks crashed the boards to generate second-chance points.

Junior guard Claire Ryan accepted the challenge of defending Lincoln-Way East’s playmaker, Taylor Johnson. Ryan played on top of the RedHawks’ 1-3-1 zone and took Johnson out of her game by cutting off Johnson’s driving lanes.

In the end, Ryan limited Johnson to 10 points, well under her average, and drew praise from Marist coach Mary Pat Connolly.

“If I had the game ball, which I do, I’d give it to Claire Ryan,” Connolly said. “Our whole game was to stop Taylor Johnson and force her to the right side of the floor because she always wants to drive left. We held Taylor Johnson under her average, and that has to do with Claire Ryan playing defense on her.

“Our defense predicates our offense. It was slow moving there for a while, but we can get out running—it helped when JeTaun (Rouse) hit the two 3s. We were waiting for her shots to drop the whole game. Then, finally, she hit them in the fourth quarter. She’s a gamer.”

Rouse scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the final eight minutes as Marist won its first sectional title since 2008. The RedHawks move on to face Edwardsville at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional. Edwardsville ousted Moline 59-30.

And there will be no stopping Marist if it continues to pick up strong play off the bench from the likes of Brooke Wyderski and Hannah Michalek. Wyderski, a 5-9 sophomore guard, chipped in seven points and four rebounds against Lincoln-Way East. Michalek, a 6-1 junior forward, scored two points, but more importantly added a physical presence under the basket.

Rouse, nursing a sore knee, was feeling pretty good after watching it all unfold for the RedHawks.

“Right, this was our goal,” she said. “It was really big, my first time ever winning a sectional. It feels amazing. It feels great. We worked together as team to get this far. And that’s really what got us here, sticking together as one team.”

The RedHawks overcame a 13-for-43 first half shooting effort by dominating the boards.

“At practice, we do a lot of rebounding drills,” Bolton said. “So, that was the main focus tonight, also with defense and free throws. We knew if we wanted to win this game we had to be great rebounders offensively and defensively.”