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NM’s Hanley scores game-high 18; Mouser, Musselman also in double figures
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Kaiden Hanley scored a game-high 18 points to lead three players in double figures, and the North Miami girls basketball team went on a 24-0 run in the second half to beat Rochester 58-32 at the RHS gym Thursday.
Logan Mouser came off the bench to score 12 points, and Ellie Musselman added 10 for the Lady Warriors, who improved to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the Three Rivers Conference.
Mouser also had an assist for the highlight films, hitting Hanley with a perfect behind-the-back pass in transition for a layup with three seconds left in the first half.
Lexy Thomas had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Class 2A, No. 16 Rochester, who fell to 9-4, 3-2. Rochester committed 31 turnovers against North Miami’s trapping defenses, which started with a halfcourt trap but got extended to a three-quarter court press as the game progressed.
“I thought we were starting to gain a little momentum when that happened,” Rochester coach Brian Jennings said. “But just constant turnovers. I’ve been pretty patient with turnovers in the past, but what I don’t like is the same mistake over and over. We constantly today made the same mistake over and over.
“And not necessarily the turnover with the ball. Our positioning, when we should cut and when we shouldn’t cut, it was the constant same miscue across the board. And it didn’t matter who we put in the game. Everybody was doing the same things.”
The loss ended Rochester’s winning streak at seven games. Rochester had 11 of the previous 12 meetings against North Miami prior to Thursday.
The 58 points allowed were a season-high for Rochester. They came in having held their previous nine opponents under 40 points, and they were allowing opponents to score just 34.2 points per game.
North Miami led 29-28 after Thomas put back her own miss with 1:06 left in the third quarter. That’s when the Lady Warriors started their run.
Mouser hit a left baseline runner. Hanley scored in transition. Emily Smith banked in a 3-pointer with one second left in the third quarter to extend the lead to eight.
Two Mouser baskets – a steal and a layup and then a step-back jumper from the left baseline – got the lead to 12.
Rochester coach Brian Jennings called timeout, but the North Miami landslide continued. Musselman drove from the right baseline and scored on a nifty reverse. Hanley leaked out in transition and scored after a Rochester turnover. Musselman hit a short banker in the paint. Allison Bowman then stepped in front of the ensuing Rochester inbounds pass and dished it to Hanley for a bunny to make it a 20-point lead.
A Mouser short jumper in the paint, and a Jerzi Trigg 3-pointer capped the run.
Audrey Bolinger’s driving banker from the left side finally broke the seven-and-a-half minute scoring drought.
North Miami coach Lori Working praised Musselman’s impact. She missed the last three quarters of the Tippecanoe Valley game Friday and the entire Peru game Monday with an ankle injury.
“Ellie Musselman is huge to us,” Working said. “Ellie’s been my three-year starter, and she’s been out the last two games, and these girls roll off her. And I think once we got up on them a little bit, and the girls started believing, and Logan played the back side of that defense like I haven’t seen her play before. It just happened to be one of those nights where everybody played together.”
Rochester won the JV game 41-24. Rylee Clevenger scored 14 points, and Mia Howdeshell had 13 for Rochester. Ella McCarter had six, Darah Strasser had five, Cydnie Lamb had two, and Savanah Eccles had one.
Clevenger, McCarter and Eccles also saw playing time in the varsity game along with Bolinger and junior Elizabeth Weaver.
North Miami 58, Rochester 32
NORTH MIAMI (58) (6-4, 3-2)
Emily Smith 1 0-0 3, Jerzi Trigg 2 0-0 6, Allison Bowman 1 0-0 3, Kaiden Hanley 8 2-4 18, Ellie Musselman 4 2-3 10, Macey Stockdale 0 0-0 0, Alison Smith 1 0-0 2, Victoria Masters 0 0-0 0, Molly Freeman 0 4-4 4, Logan Mouser 6 0-0 12
TEAM: 23 8-11 58
ROCHESTER (32) (9-4, 3-2)
Kami Burkett 0 0-0 0, Rily Holloway 0 0-0 0, Kallie Watson 1 0-0 3, Lexy Thomas 5 1-2 11, Millie Scorsone 4 0-0 8, Ella McCarter 1 0-1 2, Audrey Bolinger 1 0-0 2, Rylee Clevenger 0 0-0 0, Sydney Haughs 0 0-0 0, Lilith Eaton 0 0-0 0, Savanah Eccles 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Jackson 3 0-1 6, Elizabeth Weaver 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 15 1-4 32
Three-point field goals:
North Miami 4 (Trigg 2, E. Smith, Bowman),
Rochester 1 (Watson)
Total fouls: North Miami 9, Rochester 8
Turnovers: North Miami 18, Rochester 31
Score by quarters
North Miami 6 13 17 22 – 58
Rochester 6 9 13 4 – 32
JV: Rochester 41, North Miami 24
