Coming to a halt: Rochester Hills snaps Bethany Christian’s league streak at 36

GETTING BY: Rochester Hills Christian junior guard Allise Dubay tries to maneuver around Troy Bethany Chirstian freshman guard Sarah Bishop during Tuesday's FBAC Red Division game. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

TROY — Three years ago, Rochester Hills Christian walked off the basketball court at Troy Bethany Christian in quite a dejected manner.

The Eagles were run off the court by the eventual state champion Bruins in a 55-13 defeat.

Finally, Rochester Hills Christian gained its revenge.

The Eagles became the first team Tuesday to defeat Troy Bethany in a Fundamental Baptist Athletic Conference Red Division game since Lake Orion Baptist did the trick in September of 2006, when girls basketball was still a fall sport in Michigan. That was the league opener of that season and the Bruins won nine straight league games that season after that loss and had not lost since until Tuesday.

Rochester Hills walked off the court this time with a lopsided 44-22 triumph, snapping the Bruins’ 36-game winning streak within the league.

Troy Bethany (4-2, 1-1) has won five straight league championship, including the fall of 2005 (10-0) and 2006 (9-1) seasons, plus 2007-08 (10-0), 2008-09 (8-0) and 2009-10 (8-0) winter seasons. They had one league win this season heading into Tuesday.

The Bruins, who have several sophomores and one freshman in the playing rotation, were caught off guard.

“We’re young and they are loaded with seniors and experience,” said Hagspihl. “They ran that man (defense) on us and we were prepared for that. Rochester just played really well.

“It’s been a while,” continued Hagspihl. “I kind of thought that this might happen. Rochester Hills is a very good team. But we’ll get better the second time through (the league). I don’t think we’ll be as shocked to see these teams the second time through.”

This game had been a large, red circle on the Eagles’ roster for some time. Rochester Hills has not defeated Bethany Christian since the fall 1999 season when current coach Paula Bronsing (then Boers) was a senior.

“I know it was on the player’s schedule and so did I,” admitted Bronsing, who is in her third season as head coach at Rochester Hills Christian.

“It feels great to be the first ones to beat them in a long, long time,” continued Bronsing. “My team has progressed each and every year and now a lot of them are seniors. I thought it was quite obvious we were more of a team than we were one or two individual players. No matter who we had in there, we controlled the game.”

Senior center Megan Steiner paced a balanced attack with 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Senior guard Caroline Milsk added 10 points and five steals, senior forward Jane Crile chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds and senior forward Devon Tucker supplied six points and 10 rebounds for Rochester Hills Christian (6-0, 2-0), which is off to a 6-0 start for the first time in school history with a senior-laden team.

Junior point guard Allise Dubay was held to just two points, four steals and three assists, struggling through foul trouble and an ankle injury. The Eagles finished 8-of-10 from the foul line and 18-for-55 shooting from the floor.

Rochester Hills opened the game with a 12-4 run and used a 13-3 surge in the second frame to go up 25-7 at the half. The Eagles limited the Bruins to only three first-half field goals.

Freshman guard Sarah Bishop scored eight in a losing effort for Troy Bethany, which has lost several key players from the previous two seasons. The Bruins were held to just 6-of-16 shooting from the foul line and eight total field goals on the night.

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Tags: girls basketball, prep girls basketball

Category: Prep Wraps, Rochester Hills Christian, Troy Bethany Christian