The Barbara Joyce O’Donnell Gymnasium was empty before the Marlboro girls’ basketball team took the court for pregame warmups.

Hannah Polumbo said the atmosphere was eerie, until the gym started filling with spectators toward the end of the first half.

The Dukes’ energy in the first half matched the sparsely filled gym, but the Dukes, who never trailed after taking a lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter, showed some life in the third quarter, outscoring the Spackenkill Spartans by nine points on their way to a 32-22 win on Thursday at Marlboro High School.

“Nobody was really here yet,” said Polumbo, who led the Dukes with 11 points. “But it did feel a little eerie because there was no energy. Usually our bench brings energy and we pick each other up.”

The halftime talk was about just that. Energy.

They finally showed some as the second half started, quickly turning a 6-point lead into a 10-point lead.

Polumbo got the Dukes started quickly, with a spin move for the Dukes’ first basket of the half and then Ella Leduc’s basket gave the Dukes a 21-11 lead. The Spartans got four points back before Lily Sullivan caught Nalyah Campbell slashing toward the basket to start a 6-0 run that gave the Dukes a 13-point lead.

“That’s what we can control,” Polumbo said. “So, we were just talking about energy and stuff we can control ourselves. We had to focus on that. Energy is a part of our game.”

Lillie Drivas knocked down a 3-point basket with 1:24 left in the third to give the Dukes a 15-point lead, and then Gabby Murphy opened the fourth quarter with a jumper to give the Dukes a 32-15 lead.

But Murphy’s basket was the last points the Duke would score. However, the defense prevented the Spartans from taking advantage, and the Dukes were able to hold on for the regular-season ending victory.

“I think we just came out alive on that one,” Murphy said.

Polumbo, a junior, and Murphy, a junior, are the last remaining members of the Dukes’ last Section 9 championship team. Since their elimination in the 2020 regional semifinal, the Dukes have been retooling, and finally turned a corner this season, finishing second in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League Division II behind the Red Hook Raiders.

Marlboro split its two games with Red Hook, the most recent being a 48-45 win at home. Both teams had identical 5-1 divisional records, but the Raiders won the division title due to a better record against MHAL Division I.

The Dukes were winless against Our Lady of Lourdes, Wallkill, Saugerties and FDR. The Raiders pulled out a Division I win over Saugerties.

“It’s definitely one of our biggest issues is that sometimes we’re two different teams, where we’ll be a great team against Red Hook, and then another team, we won’t just come out with the same energy,” Murphy said. “I think that’s something we’re really trying to overcome lately.”

The team has two seniors – Drivas and Leduc – and Polumbo is the only junior. The rest are sophomores and younger.

“This is the first time I’ve been on a team like this for school where we have an amazing bond both on and off the court,” Murphy said.

With the regular season behind them, the Dukes have to wait a week before taking the court again as the seedings for the Section 9 tournament won’t be released until Thursday, with tournament play scheduled to begin Saturday.

“I feel very confident about where we are as a team,” Murphy said. “ I think our team chemistry has gotten really good, and I think that we’re really starting to understand who we are as players individually, and as a team.”