Escanaba senior Katey Lamb (24) attempts a contested layup during a Great Northern Conference game against Marquette on Jan. 7, 2024 at Escanaba High School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

ESCANABA –With the last seconds of the third quarter melting away, Escanaba senior Emerson Salo secured the ball and brought it up the floor with 4.6 seconds left.

Salo maneuvered to within 22 feet of the hoop and heaved a contested shot with multiple Marquette defenders in her vicinity.

The ball left Salo’s left hand. The buzzer sounded. The ball glided through the net. The Esky faithful and bench erupted in awe.

Salo’s buzzer beater capped a 25-7 third quarter, turning an 18-15 deficit at the half into a 40-25 lead entering the fourth quarter in a 48-41 Eskymo win over the Sentinels on Tuesday.

“I’d like to bottle the third quarter (from Tuesday) for four quarters,” Esky coach Tracy Hudson said. “The season’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’re trying to figure things out about our team and as coaches.”

Both teams exchanged quick bursts in the third quarter. A layup from Esky junior Landry Bray and a triple from Salo opened a 20-18 lead. Marqeuette tallied three quick points to reclaim a 21-20 lead.

Then the Eskymos (4-4, 1-2 Great Northern Conference) erupted.

A 3-pointer from senior Clara Braun, a layup from senior Katey Lamb, four points from Bray and eight points from senior Grayson LaMarche paved the way to set up Salo’s buzzer beater to cap off a 20-4 run to end the third quarter.

“We made some plays in the third quarter. We hit some jump shots” Hudson said. “We’re kind of a Jekyll and Hyde team. We’re trying to take that step and be consistent, and we can be because we have good senior leadership.”

Marquette didn’t fade away though. The Sentinels outscored Esky 16-8 in the final quarter and led by as many as seven points in the second quarter after a first quarter which saw two lead changes and four ties.

“There was something there in the third quarter,” Marquette coach Ben Smith said. “I said to my coaches after the game that I wish I would have burned a couple of timeouts in (Esky’s run). But, I don’t know if there was a situation where we had one thing coming out of a timeout we could’ve done differently. Obviously, looking back at it, what I did didn’t work. I will hopefully do it differently next time and we’ll respond better like I know we always do.”

In the end, falling flat in the third quarter proved to be the deciding factor. The Sentinels are now 3-6 on the season, 1-2 in Great Northern Conference play, 1-6 on the road and have yet to score more than 50 points in a game.

Normally, Smith sees that the Sentinels play with strong competitiveness. If the Sentinels fell short it was typically due to a few key plays or good plays by the opponent.

In the loss to Esky, he believes the Sentinels didn’t play with the competitiveness and aggressiveness he typically sees.

“(Esky) played way harder than us and wanted it more. You never want to feel that way,” Smith said. “No matter what the score was or who we’ve played all year we haven’t had that. Hopefully we can regroup before we host Menominee on Friday.”

Takeaways

Marquette: While the offense continues to play inconsistent, the Sentinels defense bottled the Eskymos to 23 points in the first, second and fourth quarters.

Escanaba: The Eskymos went with a smaller starting lineup of Salo, Braun, Lamb, LaMarche and Bray. The quintet produced 45 of the team’s 48 points as LaMarche earned a team-best nine rebounds, Salo added six boards and steals and Braun accumulated a team-leading five assists. The Eskymos committed 12 turnovers.

Next games

Marquette: Hosts Menominee at 6 p.m. Friday in the first leg of a varsity doubleheader.

Escanaba: Trips to face Kingsford at 7 p.m. Thursday. Friday’s previously scheduled home game against Hancock has been canceled.

Box Score

Escanaba 8 7 25 8 — 48

Marquette 8 10 7 16 — 41

Escanaba — Salo 9, LaMarche 13, Braun 5, Stalboerger 3, Lamb 11, Bray 7; FT: 6-12; Fouls: 19; Fouled out: Lamb; 3-point baskets: Salo 2, Braun 1, Stalboerger 1

Marquette — Curran 11, Anderson 2, Maskart 5, Blackburn 10, Taylor 5, Kramer 4, Smith 4; FT: 10-24; Fouls: 9; Fouled out: none; 3-point baskets: Curran 1