By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
Rockford senior guard Anna Wypych has been as close to automatic for a 20-point, multi-steal game as it is possible to be this season. So, it was no surprise that the huge Rockford contingent of supporters at The Breslin Center in East Lansing let out a collective gasp when the state of Michigan’s Miss Basketball winner stayed down with a tweaked ankle after another steal and lay-up gave Rockford a quick 6-0 lead just a few minutes into the contest. But Wypych came back in shortly after being worked on by the Ram training staff and turned in a bravura performance to lead Rockford to a 61-42 victory over Wayne Memorial High School and send the Rams into the championship tilt tomorrow.
Wypych finished the game with 30 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field, including 4 for 5 from three-point range. She was also a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line and added four steals and three assists for good measure. She never scored fewer than six points in a quarter and was the primary ball handler against a tenacious Zebra press. She scored the first seven points for Rockford in the second quarter and added the first eight Ram points of the third quarter.
“She’s (Wypych) just such a winner and competitor and you saw that tonight,” said Rockford Head Coach Brad Wilson. “She has a huge target on her back every time she takes the floor and everyone wants to give her their beat shot in an effort to outdo her. She is the best player I have ever coached and we are all so proud of her. But we also know the job is not done and we still have one more step to take to achieve our ultimate goal.”
But the good thing for Rockford is that the supporting cast for Rockford came through with flying colors as they normally do. The huge contribution from the other members of the starting five came from junior Audrey Muterspaugh on this occasion. Despite measuring only 5’9″, Muterspaugh dominated the boards for the Rams while piling up 13 rebounds. Time after time she would go up with an opponent battling her for the ball and Muterspaugh would almost invariably come away with the rebound. But that was far from her only contribution as she also poured in 12 points (including a pair of big three-pointers).
“She (Muterspaugh) has been non-stop for us all year and does all the little things that do not show up in the score book all of the time,” said Wilson. “Every time we have made it to the Breslin in the last four years we have had different players that step up in March and she is one of those. She was all over the boards and was a big reason we were able to win today.”
The First quarter was a back-and-forth tussle that saw Rockford jump out to that quick 6-0 lead and Wayne Memorial keep clawing back on the strength of their defense to make it a 12-10 Rockford lead after the opening quarter. The Zebras would briefly tie things up at 12-12 on a pair of free throws early in the second quarter. But the Rams went on a 15-2 run to make it a 27-14 game late in the second quarter. Wypych accounted for ten of those points and Muterspaugh scored the other five. But to their credit, the Zebras closed out the half with the final eight points to make it only a 27-22 game going into the half. Interestingly, the only time the Zebras actually knotted things up was at that 12-12 score at the beginning of quarter two. Otherwise, Rockford held the lead for the entire game.
The third quarter saw Rockford grab hold of the contest in a convincing manner. Six Rams scored in that quarter alone (led by Wypych with 8) and the lead kept increasing to 42-26 and later 47-30 before closing with Rockford up 47-32 and in firm control of the game. The final stanza featured Wayne Memorial resorting to a foul contest in an effort to get back into the game. But Rockford refused to wilt under the pressure and hit 11 of their 14 free throws to retain their firm grasp on the semifinal contest.
Kate Higgins did her usual yeoman’s work on the boards as well for the Rams with eight rebounds of her own to go along with five points. Jordan Mateer, Sienna Wolfe and Desirae Donley all chipped in with four points for Rockford.
That sets up a titanic battle for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 championship at the Breslin Center on Saturday, March 22 at 12:15 P.M. The (arguably) top two teams in the state, Rockford and Belleville, will meet for all of the marbles. The Rams will enter the fray with a record of 27-1 and are ranked number one by most organizations. The Tigers are also 27-1 and are ranked number two by most sites. Rockford features Miss Basketball for the state in Wypych, while the Tigers are led by their Gatorade player of the year in sophomore Sydney Savoury. It should be an absolute classic battle.
“We have been fortunate enough to make it to the Breslin four years in a row now,” said Wilson. “Our goal at the start of the year was to make it again and we achieved that. Now we just have one final step and we are going to give it all we have got.”
