GIRLS BASKETBALL: Avondale rallies to nip Colts

JAKE LOURIM

STUDENT CORRESPONDENT

TROY — A total of 16.3 seconds, one shot, and three points. It didn’t pan out.

Auburn Hills Avondale came back from a 12-point deficit in the second half Thursday at Troy, then smothered a last-second 3-point attempt for the 43-41 OAA Red Division girls basketball win.

On the previous possession, Sabria Cotton missed two shots that would have given Troy the lead. The Colts fouled Avondale, which made both free throws. Needing a 3-pointer, Troy coach Dennis Koch called time-out.

“The post players were supposed to come up and set a screen on the high post or high block, and I was supposed to come around and shoot a 3 or drive and dish,” senior guard Karin Moss said. “But it broke down.”

“Deny her. Deny Troy the 3-point shot,” Avondale coach Dave Muczynski said of his game plan.

Avondale took its first lead since 9-7 on a clutch 3 by Loreal Farris with 1:04 left. Moss raced down the floor for a lay-up, but it was waved off for a charging foul, one of several bad breaks that Troy took in the second half. Avondale missed the ensuing one-and-one, which fouled out sophomore forward Sydney Heath, but Troy never scored again.

“It’s all good. We’ll get it next game,” Moss said.

Troy was cold the whole second half, scoring just 15 points and shooting 4-for-23 from the floor. The Colts lost the turnover battle 24-17, but out-rebounded Avondale 40-28. Heath grabbed 14 boards.

“I think the (team) did a good job, they came ready to play, they played hard, and we put a little extra focus on [rebounding],” Troy coach Dennis Koch said.

Overall, a partly sloppy second half included 20 turnovers. The teams combined shot below 50 percent from the free-throw line for the night.

“I thought Troy played a solid game against us, just some breaks went our way,” Muczynski said. “It was one of those games where we’ll take it and go to the next one.”

Before Avondale rallied, Troy pulled away with an 18-10 second quarter to go into the locker room up by 10. Unfortunately for the Colts, that wasn’t enough to avenge last year’s district loss.

Sophomore Rachael Zelmanski’s 3-point play early in the second quarter pushed the lead to eight, and Cotton’s ensuing basket made it ten. Zelmanski scored again to start the third quarter for a 12-point advantage, the largest of the night.

“Overall, we were pleased with our effort today, we just need to focus on a couple extra things,” Koch said.

“Keep practicing hard, watch film, learn what we did wrong this game, and pick it up the next game,” Moss added.

Moss finished with 17 points on 6-for-23 shooting with four assists and seven steals. Troy will take on undefeated Clarkston in a tough road contest Monday.

Troy falls behind early, can’t catch up to Pontiac

Maybe Troy coach Dennis Koch would prefer to play his team’s games against Pontiac at Pontiac in the future.

Troy moved to 0-2 at home against the Phoenix under Koch Tuesday, 54-40. Pontiac won the rebounding battle 37-23, turning 13 offensive rebounds into too many second-chance points for Troy to come back.

The Colts opened last season with a great win at Pontiac before being shocked later in the year and again Tuesday.

“They just played a lot harder,” Koch said, “they wanted it more.

“We need to play harder, improve our effort, watch the turnovers, and play better defense.”

Pontiac took a 29-18 lead at halftime as Troy shot just 32 percent, and the deficit never dipped below eight the rest of the way.

A Pontiac 3-pointer with 3:46 left in the third made it 39-24, and the Phoenix eventually built it up to 18 just before the end of the third quarter.

An urgent Troy squad came out firing at the beginning of the fourth, with Karin Moss hitting a 3-pointer and Katy McCuish and Sydney Heath adding baskets. But the Colts only managed two more points against Pontiac’s 10.

“That maybe had us take a sigh of relief,” Pontiac coach Lance Davis said.

Moss led Troy with 19 points on 7-for-24 shooting.

“We wanted to try and wear her down,” Davis said. “We put size on her with quick, taller, athletic players, and then we put guards on her.”

It looked like it was going to be a 3-point shooting battle early on, with Pontiac hitting three in the first two minutes and Moss one. When Pontiac rallied with the first eight points of the second quarter, it was 21-8 in just three minutes.

Davis said his defense has been strong all year as it was Tuesday.

“We needed some early success, and we knew we could get it easiest by selling the defense,” he said. “Offense, execution, and fundamentals are going to come in time. With defense, we could hit the floor running.”

Troy had too many scoring droughts to come back, going three minutes or more without a point three times.

“We had a little run, but they got some rebounds and came down and scored,” Koch said.

“That kind of put the nail in the coffin.”

(Jake Lourim is a junior at Troy High School and part of the AdaVan Media Group / www.northoaklandsports.com Student Correspondence Program. He is also publisher of the TroyColtSportsUpdate.com. He can be reached at j.lourim@comcast.net.)

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