GIRLS BASKETBALL: Second-half surge, stingy defense propels Rochester Adams past Stoney Creek
BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — When in doubt, Rochester Adams simply turns up the heat.
The Highlanders more than turned up the defensive thermometer in the second half and outscored Rochester Stoney Creek 30-9 over the final 16 minutes of play Friday to record a convincing 43-27 OAA Crossover victory at the annual Crosstown Showdown at Oakland University.
Adams (7-4) frustrated the Cougars for most of the night, forcing 27 turnovers while limiting Stoney Creek to a paltry 9-for-32 shooting night (28.2 percent) and without a single three-pointer.
“I told them we’ve got to step up our defensive pressure,” said Adams coach Shay Lewis, who played for Adams back in the mid-1990s when the Highlanders were consistently a top 10 team in Class A. “We weren’t playing pressure the way we know that we can, the way we talked about playing and the way we were in the last game when we beat undefeated (Troy) Athens. I said, ‘Hey, we have to step up our defense, there’s a lot of steals out here, a lot of traps we could get.’’’
Adams out-rebounded Stoney Creek 31-21 and picked up 11 team steals in the win. The Highlanders, who graduated only two players and returned 10 players from the rotation, simply stymied the Cougars for close to three quarters to avenge a loss to Stoney Creek last season.
Stoney Creek (4-7) led 18-14 at the half, but melted under the Highlanders’ pressure cooking in the second half. Adams outscored the Cougars 16-5 in the third frame for a 30-23 advantage, then closed with a 14-4 run in the fourth quarter.
“Our offense isn’t as consistent as we would like it to be at this point,’’ offered Lewis. “I stress defense in practice. If you can defend you’re going to play, you’re going to get minutes. That’s what propels our offense is we get a lot of steals, transition buckets, our defense is the main thing.’’
Stoney Creek (4-7) built a 12-9 led after the first quarter on the strength of 5-for-9 shooting from the floor. The Cougars went 4-for-23 from the floor the rest of the way and only attempted five more field goals (32) than turnovers (27).
Junior point guard Maddy Dolenga led a balanced attack with 13 point and three assists. Senior guard Amelia Drank added 11 points, five rebounds and a trio of steals, while fellow senior guard Nicole Claerhout notched four points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Highlanders. Junior forward Elizabeth Blaine contributed a fine floor game with four points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists for Adams.
The Highlanders finished the night 13-for-41 shooting from the floor (31.8 percent) and 15-for-24 from the foul line (62.5 percent).
Senior guard Lily DiPanni had 11 points and four steals, 6-0 sophomore forward Milana Skoric added four points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, and junior guard Devin Vowels contributed six points for the Cougars.
“They did to us to what we’ve done to teams throughout the year. It got to a point, I told the girls at timeout it was like quicksand, things compounded and compounded so the harder we fought, the harder it was to get back into it,’’ said Stoney Creek fourth-year coach Kellen James. “But we’re 11 games into the season. It’s not like we can say that our inexperience is the reason like we could in the first 2-3 games. We just didn’t play well tonight. We didn’t shoot well and committed way too many turnovers. Give Adams credit. They took us out of our game.”
Category: Basketball, Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Most Recently Updated Stories, NOS reference, Prep Wraps, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Sport, Top Stories, Uncategorized
