Flivvers fail to stop Millado, Redettes

KINGSFORD -- Marquette senior Maria Millado has been a standout athlete for three-plus years at her school.

The three-sport athlete has excelled in volleyball with four school records, has been a key contributor in basketball and is a member of the school-record and U.P. champion 400-meter relay team in track.

Kingsford girls varsity basketball coach Jon Lorenzoni knows all of this. He's watched the 5-foot-10 senior play basketball for four years and he knows what she is capable of.

Lorenzoni's team held Millado to just four points in the first half Thursday night, but she took over in the second half with 16 points to lead Marquette to a 43-29 Great Northern Conference victory over the Flivvers at Kingsford High School.

"I've seen her now since she's been a freshman and we know that she's just an incredible athlete and incredible player," Lorenzoni said. "And she was our focus. But in the second half, she took over a little bit."

The Flivvers started very slowly, turning the ball over seven times in the first five minutes of the game to fall behind 5-0. Seniors Talia Wallis and Abby Terrian steadied the ship a bit with three points each to help Kingsford close the gap to 7-6 after one quarter.

In the second period, senior Paige Olsen and junior Erika Malone each knocked down triples as the Flivvers (5-6) brought an 18-16 lead into the locker room at half.

Kingsford was tasked with facing Marquette's 1-2-1 half-court trap and the Redettes' size advantage in the game.

"Marquette's a hard team to play against," Lorenzoni said. "They're going to attack you, they're going to try to get the ball down in the post, they're bigger than us. But I thought we really battled hard. I think we played well enough to win."

But Millado had other plans. The Redettes began to create some space for Millado to drive from the free throw line or from the left wing. She scored seven points in the final three minutes of the third quarter to help her team overcome a 25-21 deficit to take a 30-27 lead heading into the fourth.

"I think that we were more aggressive with the ball and started going for it more in the second half," Millado said. "We have a few plays that are run through me a little bit, plays (in which) I just cut to the ball and then square up. And the majority of the points – I'm not a huge shooter – so I get a lot of my points from driving."

Millado kept attacking in the fourth, recording three straight hoops as Marquette (6-7) took a 39-29 lead.

Meanwhile, the Flivvers went stone cold in the decisive quarter. Junior Laura Bracket scored a put-back to keep her team within 31-29 with 6:58 to play, but that was Kingsford's final points of the game. The Flivvers had some open looks from distance, but just couldn't get the cover off the basket.

"We really went cold," Lorenzoni said. "We have good 3-point shooters, we just didn't shoot well in the second half. I liked some of the shots we were getting, we just didn't put them in."

The Flivvers are back in action on Tuesday when West Iron County visits. Kingsford defeated the Wykons 61-51 on Jan. 4 in Iron River.

Jerry DeRoche can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 244, or at jderoche@ironmountaindailynews.com.