Marquette girls basketball head coach Ben Smith talks to the Redettes during halftime of their MHSAA Division 1 regional tournament game against Midland Dow in Gaylord on Tuesday. (Fred Kelly photo)

GAYLORD — Coach Ben Smith must be wondering what he has to do to lead his Marquette girls basketball team to a regional championship.

Not facing Midland Dow or Saginaw Heritage would probably be a good start.

While the Redettes were coming off their sixth straight MHSAA Division 1 or Class district tournament title, MSHS hasn’t reached a regional championship game since 2010.

On Tuesday, Marquette gave Dow all it could handle for one half, just like last year. And again the Chargers pulled away in the second half to end Marquette’s season, 63-54, in a regional semifinal at Gaylord High School.

Dow improves to 21-3 and advances to face Davison in Thursday’s regional final at Mount Pleasant, while the Redettes end their season at 16-8.

“They’re a quality team,” said Smith, whose team led Dow by six points at halftime of last year’s regional semifinal before losing.

This time, the teams were tied at the half.

“We keep running into Dow and Saginaw Heritage (in regionals), so it’s not like we’re running into teams that are lucking their way in here. They’ve had great success over the years.

“But I’m proud of my kids. The four seniors we have showed great leadership and battled hard, and they’ll be greatly missed,” Smith added. “They set a great example for their teammates and for the classes who are coming up after them.”

Marquette sophomore guard Maria Millado was sensational on Tuesday, pouring in a game-high 25 points on an assortment of jumpers, layups and free throws. But Dow parlayed a big third-quarter run into a double-digit lead and never looked back.

The Redettes finished quite well at the rim in a hotly contested, back-and-forth first half, but they struggled to take care of the ball against Dow’s pressure defense and couldn’t keep up with the Chargers’ 3-point shooting.

“I thought we started out pretty well, but when you start turning it over, (the deficit) can tally up quickly,” Smith admitted. “And they (Dow) had six 3’s in the first half, which doesn’t help our cause.

“We knew they could shoot it, and when they hit a couple of jumpers, you have to close out on their perimeter players, and that opens up room for them to get to the rim.”

For Marquette senior center Sofia van den Ende, the loss was a tough way to end a great prep career.

“They’re all my best friends,” a tearful van den Ende said of her teammates. “We all get along really well, and we never have any problems. It’s going to be sad to not get to play with them anymore.

“I’m just happy and grateful for the season we had…. I definitely enjoyed this year, for sure, and I’m grateful that I got to play with these girls.”

Marquette jumped out to a 7-3 lead before the Chargers started to heat up. After four lead changes, the Redettes settled for a 15-14 edge at the end of the first quarter.

Millado had eight points, mostly on layups, for MSHS in the quarter, as the Redettes got to the rim repeatedly either off the dribble or off of post entries.

The Chargers’ pressure defense forced four early turnovers in the second quarter, as Dow opened on an 11-4 run — including two triples by Abby Rey and a 3 by Kennedy Caldwell — to take a 25-19 lead.

Marquette countered with a 9-3 run, including tough post buckets by Maddie Carter and Averie Kelly and two more buckets by Millado, to tie it 28-28.

The score was knotted at 32-32 heading into halftime.

The third quarter, however, was all Dow. The Chargers began the second half with a driving layup and a 3-pointer, both by Jada Garner, and blew the game open from there.

Dow also got triples from Rey and Katelyn Murray in a game-changing 17-6 run which gave the Chargers a 49-38 lead. DHS went on to carry a 53-45 advantage into the fourth.

“Their pressure got to us…. Credit Dow for a ton of effort in trying to take us out of our comfort zone,” said Smith, whose Redettes committed six turnovers in the third quarter, finished with 20 turnovers and were outscored 21-13 in the third.

“When we were able to handle their pressure, we got it to spots where we could make plays,” the Marquette coach added. “But we had maybe six or seven possessions where we just threw them into (transition) layups, and it’s tough to win a game like this when you do that.”

Both teams struggled to score early in the fourth, but Dow eventually pieced together a 10-3 run to open up its biggest lead, 63-48, with 3:56 remaining. The Chargers then began to milk the clock successfully, as 3-pointers by Millado and Aspen Michelin ended up being too little, too late for Marquette.

“We came out in the second half a little slow, and they got the jump on us, and I think it got into our heads a little bit,” van den Ende noted. “We tried to fight back, but it didn’t work out.”

Dow shot 45 percent (21 of 47) from the floor and hit nine 3-pointers, while the Redettes shot 42 percent (20 of 48) and had only two triples.

Garner, Rey and Alexa Kolnitys each had 14 points to lead the Chargers, while Chloe McVey had nine points and three steals and Murray also had nine points. Kolnitys added four assists, while Garner had three.

For Marquette, Carter finished with 12 points and 11 boards, Michelin added nine points, and Millado had seven boards and three assists to go with her 25 points.

“Every team is going to lose their last game except for the four who win state championships. It’s going to sting whenever it happens, and we were hoping to extend (our season for a while longer),” Smith said. “But losing to a team that plays as hard and competes as hard as Dow does — you just tip your hat to them.”

Editor’s note: Fred Kelly writes for the Midland Daily News.