By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
Anna Wypych has accrued multiple accolades both as an individual player and as part of a storied run for Rockford girls’ basketball team over the last nearly three and a half years. You can add one more ribbon to her collection as the senior Miss Basketball candidate poured in a school record 38 points in a 74-43 win for the Rams over East Kentwood at home on Friday, January 10. Wypych scored 12 points in the second quarter and turned it on in the third stanza as she added 16 more en route to the record setting night. She broke her own record of 34 in a district contest last year.
“Just a great showing from Anna tonight and she showed everyone what she is capable of on any given night,” said Rockford Coach Brad Wilson. “She could have really put up some huge numbers but there was no reason with that type of lead to leave her in there and risk an injury. We were able to get some playing time for some other kids who really work hard in practice and that is a good thing for depth as the season progresses.”
East Kentwood managed to hang around in the first half on some pretty strong shooting of their own. Even with the scoring prowess of Wypych, Rockford went into the locker room at the half with only a 31-22 advantage. It didn’t help any that Kate Higgins got two early fouls and was forced to sit for an extended period. Wypych had 12 of the 13 points the Rams scored in that second quarter.
“We were a little frustrated at the half,” said Wilson. “I think they played a lot more physically than we did in the opening half and saw some shots go down and that gave them some confidence going into the locker room. They went to the box and one defense against Wypych but that was something that we expected coming into the season and we have worked on it multiple times in practice. It really paid off for us in the third quarter as we got a ton of open looks and really took control of the game.”
Rockford delivered a knockout blow in the third quarter as they outscored the Falcons 29-5 to turn the contest into a rout. In addition to the 16 points from Anna Wypych in that quarter, freshman Addison Wypych had five points while senior Des Donley and Freshman Kendall Bires both tossed in four. Addison Wypych had 13 points on the night and Donley and Bires added seven points each.
The Rams also hosted Muskegon on Tuesday, January 7 and trounced the Big Reds 59-24. Anna Wypych again led the Rams with 25 points in a game that was never in doubt. When the Big Reds have all of the weapons at their disposal, they are a formidable team. But their top two players were out with injuries and should they meet again in tournament play it will be a much tighter game.
