Holloway scores 14, but Rochester suffers 2nd TRC loss to North Miami

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rily Holloway hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points, but the Rochester girls

basketball team lost a Three Rivers Conference road game to North Miami 48-43 on Dec. 22.

Rochester had a chance to carve into the lead when North Miami was called for a technical foul for having six players on the court with 2:51 left and the Lady Zs trailing 43-38, but Holloway missed both technical free throws, and Rochester committed a turnover on the ensuing possession.

They never got closer than that five-point margin.

Rochester committed 18 turnovers.

Kaiden Hanley led North Miami with 13 points, and Molly Freeman and Laney Musall had 10 points each.

North Miami improved to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the TRC. Rochester dropped to 6-7, 3-2.

North Miami and Rochester have split their last six meetings.

North Miami’s lone conference loss was to Tippecanoe Valley on Dec. 9, and Valley remains the only unbeaten team in the TRC.

Rochester never led in the second half, but they did tie the game twice, including at 35-35 on a Sydney Haughs 3-point play with 6:14 left.

Musall, a freshman shooting guard, hit the go-ahead free throw with 5:34 left and later added a layup off a Hanley assist to get the lead to six. North Miami led by as many as eight in the fourth quarter.

Not scoring after the North Miami technical was a missed opportunity, according to Rochester coach Joel Burrus.

“We felt like Holloway was the person to go to the line,” Burrus said in a phone interview. “She had hit some pretty big shots in the game to that point. She had been shooting the ball well in practice the last few days at the line, and she’s a senior. I think we all felt like she was the one that needed to go to the line and shoot those, but it didn’t work out for us. … You’d like to give your seniors opportunities in those areas … but our free throw shooting has been a roller coaster ride the whole season.”

Rochester’s 43 points were their second-most in a game this year. Emma Howdeshell had nine points, Haughs had seven, and Kallie Watson and Ella McCarter had five each.

However, the 48 points they allowed were their most.

“We did not do a good enough job of taking away the baseline,” Burrus said. “The big issue is when Hanley went baseline three or four times, they cut the high post right down the middle, and North Miami, they did a good job of finding that person that was cutting from the high post, (Ellie) Musselman a couple times and Freeman a couple times. Their size bothered us, and I knew that it could.”

Burrus said he expects to win games in which they score so many points. Losing a game in which they led 13-9 after one quarter hurt even more.

Slow starts also do not appear to be the problem. Rochester is 6-3 since their 0-4 start, and they led after the first quarter in the three most recent losses to Southwood, Argos and North Miami.

“The middle two quarters have hurt us the whole year,” Burrus said. “I think too it’s very difficult when you go through a major culture change or a shift in leadership like these girls have been through with me coming in here. It’s tough sometimes when things are completely flipped. The way I coach and what we do, our system defensively and the things I expect offensively, it’s a completely new, different thing than what they’ve dealt with in the past. And I know for seniors, that can be difficult. I’ve told them we’re going to do the best job with you, and we’re going to get the most out of you as we possibly can; just try your best to have an open mind and do what we need you to do.

“These last 10 games or so… Are we going to get better? That’s going to be the question. And can we get more consistency?”

Lady Z notes

Game time was moved up from 7:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. due to the forecast of inclement weather. The game was originally moved back from Dec. 15 due to a flu outbreak within the Rochester team. Burrus said that he was sick with the flu the day before the game.
McCarter returned after missing four games due to a hamstring injury suffered against Winamac on Nov. 26.
North Miami senior shooting guard Logan Mouser did not play.

North Miami 48, Rochester 43

ROCHESTER (43) (6-7, 2-2)

Rily Clevenger 1 0-0 3, Rily Holloway 5 0-2 14, Kallie Watson 1 2-4 5, Emma Howdeshell 2 5-11 9, Sydney Haughs 2 3-3 7, Ella McCarter 2 1-2 5

TEAM: 13 11-22 43

NORTH MIAMI (48) (8-2, 3-1)

Emily Smith 1 0-0 2, Allison Bowman 2 3-4 9, Kaiden Hanley 4 4-4 13, Ellie Musselman 2 0-0 4, Molly Freeman 3 4-4 10, Laney Musall 3 4-7 10

TEAM: 15 15-19 48

Three-point field goals:

Rochester 6 (Holloway 4, Watson, Clevenger),

North Miami 3 (Bowman 2, Hanley)

Total fouls: Rochester 18, North Miami 19

Fouled out: Watson (RHS), Haughs (RHS)