By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
In a matchup between two of the top five teams in state on Saturday, January 11 at the Special Olympics Center in Cutlerville, Rockford jumped out to an early lead before eventually hanging on for a hard fought 51-45 win over Tecumseh to move their record to 9-1 on the season. It was the first loss of the season for Tecumseh as the Indians dropped to 7-1.
The Rams jumped out to a 15-11 lead after the first quarter as senior Anna Wypych continued her torrid scoring pace by posting a ten-point quarter. But junior Kate Higgins was right there beside Wypych as she scored the other five points to account for all of the Ram’s scoring. Higgins was matched up with Tecumseh All-stater Alli Zajac and thoroughly outplayed her from start to finish. Higgins ended the evening with 16 points and four rebounds on only nine shots while it took Zajac 14 attempts to post her 11.
The second quarter saw the Rams boost their lead to 30-20 at the break. Higgins poured in six points in the quarter while Wypych added five. The game followed a familiar pattern as Rockford would build the lead to double digits and the Indians would scratch and claw to get back into it. The Rams continuously fed the ball into the post and watched foul trouble mount for Tecumseh. In the end two Indians fouled out and another two ended up with four fouls. Rockford looked to take firm control of the game after the third quarter as they took a 42-30 lead into the final eight minutes.
But Tecumseh managed to score the first ten points of the final quarter to make it a 42-40 game with just under four minutes to play. The Rams were finding themselves continuously frustrated offensively while Tecumseh kept taking the ball to the hole and converting. But Rockford Coach Brad Wilson then started pulling the ball out and forcing the Indians to foul in an effort to get the ball back. The Rams would convert nine of eleven free throws to rebuild the lead to eight and hang on for the win.
Wypych led the Rams with 22 points on the night while Higgins added the aforementioned 16 points to pace the Rams. Freshman Addison Wypych added six while fellow freshman Kendall Bires added a key three-pointer in the third quarter.
