The defending Class B girls basketball state champion Marshall Redhawks are heading back to the semifinals after defeating Grand Rapids Catholic Central 49-27 in Tuesday’s quarterfinal game at Otsego High School.  The Redhawks never trailed in the contest and started the game on a 10-4 run.   Their lead jumped to 14-6 by the end of the first quarter, 23-9 by halftime, and 39-20 for the end of the third quarter.

Marshall senior Nikki Tucker had a stellar performance, nearly outscoring the Cougars on her own with a 26 point performance.

“She was pretty darn good, wasn’t she?” said coach Sal Konkle after the game.  “She was a coach’s dream tonight.   She’s been so focused the last couple weeks.   We talked about shot fakes and she sure as heck shot-faked the heck out of them and created space for herself to score.”

Younger sister Natalie Tucker and Carlee Long each had eight points for Marshall.  Topping GRCC with eight was Shaniya Huggins.

For the second straight season, the Redhawks end the Cougars’ season in the quarterfinals.   Marshall also avenges one of their two regular season losses, as GRCC beat them in January.   The Cougars finish the year at 24-2 with Marshall moving to 23-2.    The Redhawks move to the semifinal Friday at 6 p.m. at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University.    They’ll meet second-ranked Detroit Country Day (24-1), who was a semifinalist last season.   That game is scheduled for broadcast via Michigan Sports Radio.

NOTE:  Due to unsolvable technical issues at Otsego, the broadcast of the Marshall/GRCC game has been cancelled. I am incredibly sorry and can’t apologize enough to all of those who wanted to hear this game.