“I would say yes,” Green said. “But when Mr. Slaughter hired me, the last part of our meeting, we walked through the commons area at Marquette and went right to the third-place trophy they had from state. He said, that’s what I want you do, get us back to state. When I took that program over, that was really a longshot. But I was two games away.”

Green resigned after the season, leaving the Explorers with a 114-51 record from six winning seasons that produced two Class 2A regional championships.

“Never had a losing season,” said Green, who followed a 15-13 first season with four 20-win seasons yielding 20, 21, 24 and 27 victories around a 7-5 covid season. “It just got better and better, we were able to build the program up. For Whitney now, they’ve got to try to keep that rolling.”

Green’s final season was his finest, guiding the Explorers to a 27-7 record and a 16-game winning streak before losing to eventual state champion Quincy Notre Dame in the title game at the Waverly Class 2A Sectional. Green is the 2022 Telegraph Small-Schools Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

Green left Marquette and will coach the Civic Memorial Eagles boys basketball team next season. Green’s lead assistant will take over the program, with Whitney Sykes-Rogers getting the job in June. The Explorers must replace all five graduated starters from last season, but winning is not expected to depart with Green.

“I lobbied for her,” Green said of Sykes-Rogers. “I coached her for four years at SIUE, I recruited her. I convinced to leave Granite City to come and help me get Marquette to state. I said, look, I’m thinking about stepping down in a year or two and move on to something else. I want you to get this job. I need somebody who knows what they’re doing, somebody I trust. She did it and it was great. She’s a perfect fit.”

Marquette did not get off to a perfect start in Sykes-Rogers’ first season on Green’s staff. With senior transfers Chloe White (Jersey) and Alyssa Powell (Triad) added to an already experienced roster, a big season was expected.

An opening four weeks producing a 6-5 record was not. The product was failing to meet the hype.

“We were around the .500 mark after 10 or 11 games,” Green said. “We had so many good players and I was starting to question whether we had enough basketballs to go around. We had to get them to jell. I did question a little bit, but I knew in the back of my mind, we’ve got to keep going, we’ve got to keep going.”

The Explorers got going after Christmas. Green circles a 31-23 win over Benton in the semifinal of the Benton Holiday Tournament as the game when the switch flipped on. Marquette would lose the Benton title game to Mount Vernon. But the Explorers went unbeaten in January and stretched the win streak well into February with regional wins over Southwestern and Staunton to win a regional and a 35-38 sectional semifinal victory over a Carthage Illini West squad ranked No. 4 in the Class 2A state poll.

“We never lost again, until we got beat by QND,” Green said. “We went two months without losing, it was great. Kept building confidence and we really were playing our best basketball down the stretch.”

Athletes of the Week: Feb. 24, 2022

Chloe White • Alton Marquette basketball

A 5-foot-7 senior guard who has signed with McKendree University, White led the Explorers to the Class 2A Roxana Regional championship. In a 65-48 win over Staunton in the regional final, White nearly had a double-double, finishing with a team-high 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists. She had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven steals to lift the Explorers to a 70-19 semifinal win over Piasa Southwestern. White, who played three seasons at Jerseyville before transferring to Alton Marquette, is averaging team-highs in scoring (12.7), steals (4) along with 6.9 rebounds. She has been named to two all-tournament teams this season.

Athletes of the Week: Jan. 27, 2022

SEPT. 14, 2022

Abby Williams likes to take charge.

The Alton Marquette senior even refers to herself as a “bossy person.”

“That’s an understatement,” explained senior teammate Kamryn Fandrey.

Williams, a 5-foot-10 forward, is a born leader who loves to step to the forefront and take command.

Her ability to handle that role has made the Explorers a threat to make some serious noise in the Illinois girls basketball state playoffs.

Alton Marquette (24-6) has won its last 13 games and is the team to beat in the Class 2A Roxana Regional. Marquette opens at 6 p.m. Monday against Piasa Southwestern in a regional semifinal in the first meeting between the programs since 2018.

Thanks in part to Williams, the Explorers carry state championship hopes into the postseason grind.

“Our first goal is regionals,” Williams said. “For us, that would be a big deal.”

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