Rochester commits 27 turnovers in loss to Maconaquah

J. Field scores 10, grabs 8 rebounds in loss

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Jadyn Field

BUNKER HILL — Ireland Kile scored 15 points, and Aubrey Stoll added 13 for the Maconaquah girls basketball team in a 49-26 win over visiting Rochester Nov. 22.

Jadyn Field had 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Lady Zs in the loss. But Rochester committed 27 turnovers, including 11 in the second quarter. Maconaquah outscored Rochester 18-4 in that quarter to build a 21-point halftime lead, and Rochester never got the lead under 20 in the second half.

Maconaquah improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Three Rivers Conference. Rochester dropped to 2-3, 0-2.

Maconaquah, who won their Class 3A sectional last year, broke a five-year losing streak to Rochester.

Maconaquah was ahead 5-4 in the first quarter when they went on a 19-2 run to build an 18-point lead. During that stretch, they held Rochester without a field goal for 7:50.

“I thought we got fine looks in the first quarter,” Rochester coach Joel Burrus said. “We just turned the ball over. It’s really that simple. We turned the ball over 17 times in the first half. That’s minus-17 possessions. And we need all the possessions we can get. We just turned the ball over too much. A lot of it is self-inflicted.”

Kile, a 5-9 junior forward, excelled in the high post against Rochester’s 2-3 zone. She scored the final six points in the first quarter on two 15-foot jumpers and two free throws, and she also scored Maconaquah’s final seven points of the half on a post layup, a free throw, a layup off a Gabrielle Griffis assist and a putback.

“This is really the first time we’ve faced what I would call a matchup zone,” Maconaquah coach Ray Davis said. “They kind of run out and help with stuff like that, but I thought we did a really, really good job of getting the ball to Ireland Kile in the high post tonight. I told her, I said, ‘You get it, you turn, and you attack the basket, and if they collapse, then you kick it for our 3s.’”

Stoll added seven points in the first half. Maconaquah hit four 3-pointers in the first half – one each from Addie Maiben, Kasey Murry, Avarie Maiben and Stoll – while Rochester hit none.

“We’re not really a chasing team,” Burrus said. “Or not yet anyways. That’s not what I had planned. Us getting out and trapping all over the place? No, we need to get back and play our solid halfcourt zone with our principles, but when you’re going to have to start chasing because you’re down, it can get out of whack pretty easily.”

After a scoreless first half, Aubrey Wilson scored six points in the third quarter. Freshman Lyla Bowers hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Still, the ballhandling issues were bothersome to Burrus. Rochester had a week to prepare for this game after a 50-24 loss to Peru a week earlier.

“We’re scared to death of pressure for some reason,” Burrus said. “There’s going to be people that trap you. There’s going to be people all over you. So it’s one of those deals where you’ve got to be able to handle it. We can’t pick the ball up one step over halfcourt either. We worked on that all week. It’s not anything that we’re not working on in practice.”

Maconaquah relies on a 3-2 zone that traps aggressively along the sidelines.

“What we do … in our 3-2, is our bottom girls, we’re not big,” Davis said. “So we said, ‘Don’t front them. Get behind them, and then we’re going to drop Ireland Kile down in front. And Ireland Kile is smart enough is she almost baits them.”

In the JV game, Rochester prevailed 26-18 behind Kyleigh Little’s 12 points. Lyla Bowers and Hope Baugh had four each, Alexandria Cortes-Gustafson had three, and Bailey Smith had one.

Maconaquah 49, Rochester 26

ROCHESTER (26) (2-3, 0-2)

Aubrey Wilson 2 2-4 6, Brailyn Hunter 0 0-0 0, Adalyn Gonzalez 1 0-0 2, Jadyn Field 2 6-7 10, Ali Field 1 0-0 2, Lyla Bowers 2 0-0 6, Hope Baugh 0 0-0 0, Jayla Miller 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 8 8-11 26

MACONAQUAH (49) (3-1, 1-1)

Addie Maiben 1 1-2 4, Delaney Betzner 2 0-0 6, Aubrey Stoll 6 0-0 13, Ireland Kile 6 3-4 15, Aubrey Kaiser 0 3-4 3, Avarie Maiben 1 0-0 3, Kasey Murry 1 0-0 3, Gabrielle Griffis 0 0-0 0, Eleanor Boshears 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 18 7-10 49

Three-point field goals:

Rochester 2 (Bowers 2),

Maconaquah 6 (Betzner 2, Stoll, Addie Maiben, Avarie Maiben, Murry)

Total fouls: Rochester 12, Maconaquah 14

Technical foul: A. Field (RHS), 5:26, third

Turnovers: Rochester 27, Maconaquah 20

Score by quarters

Rochester 4 4 8 10 – 26

Maconaquah 11 18 13 7 – 49