A. Field scores 9, gets crucial late steal to help Lady Zs beat Valley for first time in 5 games

Bussard gets double-double, Wise adds 10 for Lady Vikes

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Ali Field Hadley Wise

AKRON — The Rochester girls basketball team relied on their freshmen to break a five-game losing streak to their archrivals Nov. 25.

Ali Field scored nine points and stole a crucial pass headed for the post with five seconds left as the Lady Zs hung on to beat Tippecanoe Valley 30-28 at Rita Price Simpson Court.

Aubrey Wilson added seven points, and reserve freshman guard Lyla Bowers had five, all in the third quarter, including a game-tying 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:04 left and the free throws that put Rochester ahead for good with 25.9 seconds left.

Jadyn Field had three points and 12 rebounds.

Rochester won despite committing 28 turnovers and making just 11 of 23 free throws, but they also came back from a seven-point deficit and held Valley senior point guard Gaby Gonzalez scoreless.

Dalynne Bussard had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Valley. Hadley Wise also had 10 points, including six in the fourth quarter. But the Lady Vikings could not survive 23 turnovers of their own or a nine-and-a-half minute field goal drought in the second half.

Rochester improved to 3-3. Valley had their five-game winning streak and dropped to 5-2.

“I just thought we worked through some things,” Rochester coach Joel Burrus said. “That was how that game had to go for us to beat them, and if we were going to beat Maconaquah, if we were going to beat Peru … after the Peru first quarter, you’re like 6-3. Rochester didn’t play well, but it’s 6-3. We talked about going into the season, we were going to have to grind games out like this. Under 35 (points), that’s how we’re going to have to beat good teams, especially on the road. The road has been an absolute struggle. To come up here tonight and find a way (was) huge.”

Rochester beat Valley for the first time since January 2021. That included four regular season games and a sectional loss in 2024.

“I think coach Burrus had a game plan and executed it,” Valley coach Rebekah Parker said. “And when we don’t score off our defense, we struggle, and they were able to eliminate some of our transition opportunities by their rebounding presence, and we kind of struggled to push the pace that we like, and you’ve got to credit Rochester for that.”

Rochester would lead by as many as five in the fourth quarter. They led 27-22 after an Ali Field free throw with 3:46 left.

But a missed 3-pointer from Rochester’s Adalyn Gonzalez was rebounded by Valley’s Gaby Gonzalez, no relation, who hit Wise with an outlet pass for a transition layup that cut the lead to three and broke a nine-and-a-half minute field goal drought.

Wilson split a pair of free throws with 2:05 left. Brailyn Hunter split a pair of free throws with 1:03 left.

The lead was back up to 29-24.

Gaby Gonzalez missed, and the rebound was deflected out of bounds off Gaby Gonzalez.

After a Rochester timeout with 49.8 seconds left, Wise stole a Wilson pass in the backcourt and dropped in a layup with 41 seconds left.

After Bussard stole the inbounds pass in her half of the court that appeared to hit Jadyn Field in the foot, Valley called timeout with 32.7 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, Wise hid behind the back row of the Rochester defense and pleaded for the ball. Gaby Gonzalez’s skip pass found her for the layup that made it 29-28.

Wise fouled Hunter on an inbounds pass, and Hunter again split two free throws with 18.3 seconds left.

Valley advanced the ball to midcourt and called their final timeout with 15.4 seconds left.

Wise cut from the weak side behind the Rochester tops of the zone and had a 12-footer in the lane but missed. Bowers rebounded, but Wise immediately forced a jump ball, and Valley had the possession arrow with 5.5 seconds left.

That’s when Ali Field stole Gaby Gonzalez’s baseline inbounds pass. She kicked out to Jadyn Field to her right, and Jadyn Field held onto the ball before Valley could foul her as time expired.

“I was watching the girl after they screened the high post cutter right there because I knew they were going to throw it to her, so I was up playing at the volleyball line, and I was just ready to steal it because I knew they were going to pass it there.”

Freshmen scored 18 of Rochester’s points.

“You see what the freshmen, when they’re facing adversity, they’re starting to work through it,” Burrus said. “And we don’t win that game tonight flat out if we’re not working through those things, so that’s showing maturity.”

Ali Field was asked how much fun she has starting on the varsity as a freshman.

“I’m having a lot of fun playing varsity as a freshman,” she said. “I’ve learned that I can’t come too high if I’m playing center and that if I do, players will go underneath me and score, so I’ve learned to stay low.”

Bussard starred in the first half, scoring all of her points and grabbing seven rebounds. Aided by a Hailey Stookey 3-pointer and two Wise free throws, Bussard hit a right baseline jumper in the first quarter that put Valley up 9-5.

Rochester got within 12-11 in the second quarter with help from a Wilson trey after two offensive rebounds, but Bussard hit two free throws with 3:01 left in the half two more with 1:39 left.

When she scored on a putback in transition, the lead was 18-11.

Adalyn Gonzalez found Ali Field in the post to cut the lead to five at halftime.

In the third quarter, Wilson ran behind two screens on a set play for a 3. On the next possession, Adalyn Gonzalez fell down with the ball while dribbling upcourt after a steal, but Wilson rescued the possession in the corner and fired a pass to the post to Ali Field, who gathered with a dribble and pout in the game-tying layup.

Savana Miller hit a 3 for Valley to break a five-minute field goal drought and give the Lady Vikings a 21-18 lead. Over two minutes later, Bowers drilled a 3 in the right corner off a Wilson assist to beat a Valley press.

Betty Shepherd fouled Bowers on a drive a little over a minute-and-a-half later, and Bowers put Rochester ahead.

Each team could only muster a free throw in the first three minutes of the fourth. Ali Field powered in a post banker and was fouled with 4:08 left. She missed the ensuing free throw, but Jadyn Field grabbed an offensive board, and Rochester called timeout.

Ali Field then split a pair of free throws with 3:46 left to get the lead to five.

“They did a good job of being really physical underneath and just creating havoc and not letting us get any sort of opportunities when our outside shots weren’t going in and trying to get anything going to the rim, it seemed like they were there and were able to get deflections and make difficult attempts,” Parker said.

In the JV game, Valley won 35-31.

Rochester 30, Tippecanoe Valley 28

ROCHESTER (30) (3-3)

Aubrey Wilson 2 1-4 7, Brailyn Hunter 0 2-4 2, Adalyn Gonzalez 1 2-4 4, Jadyn Field 0 3-4 3, Ali Field 4 1-3 9, Lyla Bowers 1 2-4 5, Jayla Miller 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 8 11-23 30

VALLEY (28) (5-2)

Gaby Gonzalez 0 0-0 0, Hadley Wise 4 2-2 10, Hailey Stookey 1 0-0 3, Dalynne Bussard 2 6-6 10, Izzy Woodruff 0 1-2 1, Malaynie Costello 0 0-0 0, Maycee Koch 0 1-2 1, Savana Miller 1 0-0 3, Betty Shepherd 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 8 10-12 28

Three-point field goals:

Rochester 3 (Wilson 2, Bowers),

Valley 2 (Stookey, Miller)

Total fouls: Rochester 14, Valley 20

Fouled out: Shepherd (TV), 7:14, fourth

Turnovers: Rochester 28, Valley 23

Score by quarters

Rochester 7 6 10 7 – 30

Valley 9 9 3 7 – 28

JV: Valley 35, Rochester 31