By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo by Miles postema
Rockford and Saginaw Heritage faced off in a Regional semifinal game at Ithaca High School on Monday, March 10 in a battle between the top-ranked Rams and the number seven Hawks. Rockford entered the fray at 23-1 and Saginaw Heritage at 21-3 and everyone was anticipating a tightly fought contest that would come down to the final quarter. Heritage started the game in impressive fashion for a team that counted three freshmen and two juniors as they were actually down only 12-11 early in the second quarter in an extremely physical contest. But from that point forward, the Rams outscored Heritage 42-20 over the balance of the contest to advance to the Regional final against Traverse City Central on Wednesday, March 12. Traverse City Central topped Midland 59-50 to earn their spot.
Rockford struggled from the field for most of the night as several layups and wide-open threes refused to fall after hanging precariously on the rim. But the one thing the Ras always bring to the table is their defensive prowess and physicality against any opponent. Ans when it comes to physicality the Rams are blessed with the overwhelming physical presence of junior Kate Higgins. Higgins was seemingly everywhere for the Rams as she grabbed innumerable rebounds at both ends of the court, forced turnovers and won almost every loose ball on the court. The Hawks were looking over their shoulders at every turn when the ball went into the block against Higgins. Muterspaugh did her usual standout job on the defensive end with multiple steals and deflections as the Rams made Heritage uncomfortable on nearly every possession.
The Rams don’t usually rely on either Higgins or Muterspaugh for a plethora of points but on this night, they were both key to giving the Rams the lead in the first half when nothing was seemingly falling. Muterspaugh had the only triple of the first quarter for Rockford on her way to nine first half points. Meanwhile, Higgins dominated inside as she counted seven first half points. Normally not primary scorers for Rockford, the two accounted for 16 of the 23 points Rockford scored in the first half as they went to the locker room with a 23-16 lead.
“Kate Higgins is in my opinion the best rebounder in the state,” said Rockford Head Coach Brad Wilson. “We are so lucky to have her on our team and she is just an absolute beast on the glass. And we are not going to have a great shooting night every game but we can still find ways to win defensively and that is what we accomplished tonight. I thought we had quite a few turnovers that led to points for us and that was a big key.”
The third quarter proved decisive for Rockford as the Rams finally got things going on the offensive end. This time the catalyst was junior Sienna Wolfe. Wolfe continues to progress from her injured knee last season and hit a triple and a twisting layup and foul that was finished off with a free throw on her way to eight points in the quarter. The Rams finished the quarter with a 19-8 advantage to push their lead to 42-24 and put the game firmly in their control. The final quarter was a 12-7 Ram edge that made the final score 54-31 Rockford as they outscored the Hawks in all four quarters. Anna Wypych had a quiet night until the final eight minutes as she poured in a trio of three-pointers in that quarter alone.
“You know with us it is a next man up mentality,” said Wilson. “When things aren’t going great, it’s on to the next play. And we know we have each other’s back. This is a very unselfish team that does not care who gets the credit, all they want to do is win. We have several different ways to win and a lot of players who can beat you with whatever it takes.”
Wypych ended up in her normal spot as the Rams top scorer with 16 points. Higgins and Muterspaugh finished with 14 and 12 respectively while Wolfe added 10. That gave the Rams four different players in double figures on a night when offense was tough to come by for vast stretches of the contest.
The Regional final is slated for being played at Traverse City Central as of the writing of this article but could change so stay in touch via Rockford Public Schools, Michigan Sports Radio or the internet.
