By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
The girls’ basketball teams from Rockford and Grand Haven got together at Rockford on Friday, January 3 in a contest that featured the second-ranked Rams and the number five squad from Grand Haven. There were multiple college scouts in attendance to check out two teams that are flush with talent. Rockford used a fast start that saw them surge to a 16-4 lead after the opening quarter and eventually go up by 17 at 47-30 after three quarters to earn the win by the score of 60-48.
“Yeah, you know it’s Christmas break and I think kids are sitting around a little too much I think,” said Rockford Coach Brad Wilson. “We seemed like we were a little flat at times. We were really playing in rhythm against their zone earlier but I think we lost some of that edge as the game went along. But I was happy and pleased that even through those lulls when we were having a hard time scoring and getting stops, we continued to play and pull our lead back together.”
Rockford really flustered the Bucs in the opening stanza with a trapping zone that forced multiple turnovers and several fast breaks for Rockford. Freshman Addison Wypych was the spark plug early for Rockford as she poured in eight points in the opening quarter on the strength of a pair of three-pointers and a twisting left-handed layup. Senior Anna Wypych and junior Kate Higgins were both steady all night long as they both totaled 16 points to lead Rockford. Higgins faced a particularly difficult challenge going against the Bucs 6′ 3″ center. But Higgins was more than equal to the task as she scored inside and out while displaying her outstanding balance of strength and athleticism. Addison Wypych ended the night with 14 points and junior Jordan Mateer scored six of her eight points on the night in the second half to help keep the Rams in control.
“Grand Haven has a very good team and I think they made some adjustments in the second half that helped them cut into the lead a bit,” said Wilson. ” We weren’t getting to our spots as quickly as we were at the beginning of the game and I think that probably had more to do with their comeback than anything. I was also quite pleased with the balanced scoring we had tonight. When you only feature one player who scores a lot of points it is easy to prepare for. So you try to spread it out and get multiple players involved and I think that was what you saw tonight.”
Rockford began the week with a trip to Wayne Memorial High School in Detroit on Monday to take on another top ten team in Howell. Howell had posted several impressive wins earlier in the season and was looking to add the Rams to their impressive resume. But Rockford dominated from start to finish and posted a solid 52-35 win. Anna Wypych had 24 points to lead the Rams scoring parade and Addison Wypych chipped in with nine of her own.
“Howell was kind of the opposite of this game for us where we came out hard and built a big lead and just continued to expand on it all night long,” said Wilson. “It was the type of consistency and effort from start to finish that we look for every game.”
The Rams return to action on Tuesday when they host the Muskegon Big Reds at 7:00 P.M. That will be followed up by hosting an East Kentwood squad on Friday, January 10. The Falcons handed Rockford one of their two losses last year and always feature a strong team.
Rockford also got some good news on the injury front as Wilson stated that junior standout Sienna Wolfe was cleared to practice with the team and should be good to go soon. Wolfe has been working diligently to return from a knee injury late last season and will be a welcome addition to an already excellent team.
