Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Escanaba’s Brandon Frazer shoots a layup in front of Marquette’s Ty Lotterman Feb. 13 in Marquette.

MARQUETTE — If the first match-up between Escanaba and Marquette wasn’t good enough, the second one played in Marquette Feb. 13 had all of that and more.

The stakes were as high as they possibly could be for a regular season game, with the winner guaranteed at least a share of the Great Northern Conference title. Marquette entered the game 6-1 in the GNC and the Eskymos entered 5-1.

If the Redmen won, they would wrap up their fourth straight conference title. If the Eskymos won, they would have at least a share of the title and would still be in the running for their first outright championship since 2006-07.

Marquette entered the contest ranked No. 3 in Division 1-3 in the U.P., while the Eskymos sat at No. 4. Esky won the first meeting 63-56 in Escanaba Jan. 7, which was its first win over the Redmen in a decade.

Needing a second win to capture the GNC title, the Eskymos came up just short in a 68-64 loss this time around, clinching Marquette’s fourth straight league title and eighth in the last nine years.

“Escanaba gave us a championship effort,” Redmen coach Brad Nelson. “It was just a great game by both teams, and I wish them the best in districts. They’re great kids as well, but I couldn’t be happier for the group of guys that I have.”

The Eskymos fell behind 10-3 right out of the gate after a triple by Kameron Karp with 2:55 left in the first quarter, but then went on an 8-2 run to pull within one at the end of the period. That was a microcosm of the whole night, as every time it appeared Marquette was going to pull away, the Eskymos fought back.

“I thought our kids fought until the very end,” Esky coach Tracy Hudson said. “It was more like a tournament atmosphere… It felt like a district semifinal. Two teams really wanted it. It was probably the youngest team I’ve ever had in a championship game, so I was very happy with how they responded. I thought there were a couple times where we were a little rattled, but we got it back together in the timeouts and kept pushing them until the very end.”

Esky’s biggest problem was turnovers, particularly in the first half. The Eskymos turned it over 17 times throughout the game, but in the second quarter they gave the Redmen too many easy buckets in transition.

“Our turnovers have kind of been a problem,” Hudson said, crediting some of them to Marquette’s defense. “When we were winning big, we were only committing like eight or nine. We had some turnovers on some lazy passes, and we have to get better at that.”

Esky trailed 31-24 after a steal and score by Karp with 2:22 left in the first half, but then went on a 7-2 run to go into halftime trailing just 33-31.

After the Redmen began the second half on an 11-2 run to go up 44-33, Esky closed to within 50-46 at the end of the third quarter. Brandon Frazer pulled the Eskymos within 52-49 with a triple from the top of the key just 30 seconds into the final frame, but that’s as close as they would get.

“I thought our kids fought hard,” Hudson said. “We were here to win a championship… It’s hard to lose to Marquette. We kept telling the kids, ‘You’re right there, you’re right there.’ You can almost feel it, but we couldn’t get over the hump against a really good basketball team tonight.”

Karp — the GNC player of the year — was a thorn in Esky’s side all night, finishing with 27 points, four rebounds and three steals. He scored 18 points in the first half, then came up with the big plays in the fourth quarter.

“It’s pretty sweet where this game ended up being the GNC championship,” Karp said. “It was a great atmosphere, it was a great game, and it feels great to come out onto our home court with a huge crowd with everyone supporting us.”

Esky placed four scorers in double figures, led by Frazer with 15 points and eight assists. Peyton Fedell and Carter Hudson each had 14 points, while Hudson also contributed seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Colin Hudson added 13 points off the bench, including a pair of big triples in the first quarter after Marquette jumped out to an early lead.

John Thomson had 20 points for the Redmen, who shot 27 for 53 from the field, held a 20-15 rebounding advantage and committed 10 turnovers. Esky was 23 for 39 from the field, including 10 for 17 on 3-pointers.

Each team was set to play for a district title before the coronavirus outbreak suspended MHSAA postseason tournaments. An announcement has yet to be made on whether or not play will resume.