GIRLS BASKETBALL: Stoney Creek gets defensive in district title win over Rochester
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
S.M.G Wire Services and Public Relations
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — Kellen James has long since come to the realization that his Rochester Stoney Creek girls basketball team is an offensive juggernaut.
Far from it.
The Cougars average just under 42 points a game offensively, not great numbers. This season Stoney Creek has won with stingy defense and that was clearly on display Friday night in the Cougars’ Division 1 district title game against host Rochester.
Stoney Creek swarmed the Falcons like never before, holding Rochester to a season-low 10.3 percent shooting (4-for-39) and rolled to a convincing 37-14 triumph.
“It’s our defense, that’s for sure,” said Stoney Creek coach Kellen James. “A lot of the credit goes right there (to assistant coach Chris Flynn). He’s the one that comes up with our defensive game plan.”
The win propels the Cougars (15-1) to its first district title since 2016 and fifth overall. Stoney Creek also won district crowns in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
“This was one of our goals. Once we saw that we had a good team we thought winning a district was possible,” said James. “It’s been a few yers since we won a district. None of these girls were around (in high school) the last time we won a district. They have worked hard and come together to win the league and district and have this kind of season.”
Like an F5 tornado ripping through an open prairie, Stoney Creek’s defensive pressure forced Rochester into a whirlwind and eventually 29 turnovers. The Falcons were 6-for-9 from the foul line and held scoreless (0-for-11) from the cheap seats and struggled getting clean looks at the basket and had a hard time getting the ball into the offensive third of the court.
“We’re not a great shooting team and tonight (Stoney Creek’s) defense, their stymie defense — they did a great job with it,” said second-year Rochester coach Bill Thurston, whose team lost in the district finals for the second straight season. “Preparing for it is one thing, but actually going out there and facing it is a different story. We played them (last month) and we were able to make some shots and keep it close (34-28). Stoney Creek plays really good defense and if they play that way at regionals they should be able to do well.”
Stoney Creek opened with a 9-2 run and slowly pulled away. The Cougars led 11-2 after the first quarter and 16-5 at the half.
In the third quarter, Stoney Creek extended the lead to 30-10 thanks to a 14-5 run and maintained the double-digit lead for the most of the final three quarters.
Junior guard Sydney LaPrairie led the Cougars with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Junior forward Milana Skoric had 12 points and three steals and freshman guard Sarah LaPrairie had five points and four steals.
Stoney Creek also struggled a bit on the offensive end, finishing 11-for-51 (21.6 percent) from the floor, 6-for-16 from the foul line (37.5 percent) and just 3-for-14 (21.5 percent) from beyond the three-point line. But the game was never in doubt.
The Cougars will be missing nearly half of its varsity and junior varsity roster next week due to Spring Break, and will have to battle without several key players.
“We’ll go out there with who is available and battle the best we can,” said James.
Rochester (5-9) was paced by senior center Ananya Rangarajian, who scored six points with 15 rebounds and five blocked shots. Senior guard Megan Lorenzo had four points and four rebounds for the Falcons.
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