Troy cages Harris, North Farmington for another OAA-Red win
BY JAKE LOURIM
STUDENT CORRESPONDENT
TROY — When North Farmington senior Jasmine Harris graduates this year and never has to play Troy again, she probably won’t mind a bit.
Already signed with the University of Massachusetts, Harris was smothered for the third straight time against coach Dennis Koch’s Troy girls basketball team.
Holding North to a shooting percentage in the low 30’s all night, Troy picked up its third straight win Thursday, a 43-33 OAA Red Division triumph.
Harris had 12 of the 33 points, but the offense ran through her — and Troy sophomore Sydney Heath shadowed her all night.
“Sydney Heath is becoming a very good basketball player,” Koch said, also crediting his whole team. “She did a great job defending Jasmine, and Jasmine’s outstanding.”
After Rachael Zelmanski’s put-back began the second half, the Raiders went on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to four points. But Heath, Karin Moss and Katy McCuish each poured in baskets in the last 3:30 of the frame, as Troy silenced the rally.
Heath, McCuish and Gabbi Ellis scored the first three baskets of the fourth quarter and the defense kept North without a point for the first six minutes to put the game away. The drought ended at 9:39 when the Raiders cleaned up the score.
“That says a lot about the maturity of our team,” Koch said. “We’re getting more mature, and we have a lot of little things to help us win basketball games.”
It ended up being Koch’s strong suit that won Troy its third straight: defense. After surrendering 50-plus in its last two games, Troy dominated the Raiders defensively and outrebounded them 33-21. Heath led with eight points, Sabria Cotton scored seven, and Ellis and Zelmanski finished with six points each. Moss dished out five assists.
“(Moss) made some good decisions distributing the ball, and took some good shots,” Koch added.
Troy turned the ball over eight times in the first quarter, but cleaned it up and finished with 15. Offensively, it was able to work the ball inside and get a few easy looks, enough to win with its lights-out defense.
The Colts switched defenses between zone and man-to-man and ran their full-court press early. Koch also rotated Cotton between the perimeter and the post. The junior finished with a team-high 10 rebounds.
Category: Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Troy
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