Rochester has ‘Field day’ in opening win over N. Judson

Wilson scores game-high 17, including trey at 3rd quarter buzzer

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Rochester girls basketball team’s halftime locker room against North Judson Thursday featured an emotional conversation between coach Joel Burrus and junior forward Jadyn Field.

Burrus’ message got through to Field in an explosive way in the fourth quarter.

Hindered by foul trouble through the first three quarters, Field scored 12 of her 14 points in the fourth in support of Aubrey Wilson’s game-high 17 as the Lady Zs pulled away for a 50-27 win over the visiting Blue Jays in the season opener for both teams at the RHS gym.

Brailyn Hunter scored seven of her nine points in the third quarter, and freshman post player Ali Field had six points and six rebounds in her high school debut.

Cailyn Tunis scored nine points to lead North Judson, and Avaree Johnston had seven.

Shiloh DeBoard, North Judson’s senior point guard who scored in double figures 10 times last year, was held to four points and fouled out with 3:44 left.

“Another huge key was we got DeBoard in foul trouble,” Rochester coach Joel Burrus said. “She creates for Tunis. These other girls that they’ve got out there, they’re not the creators that DeBoard is.”

Rochester has no seniors while North Judson has four, but it was the Lady Zs who seemed to outlast the Lady Jays, finishing on a 22-1 run covering the third and fourth quarters. Rochester held North Judson to no field goals over the final 8:32 after a driving layup from Tunis.

“At the end of the third quarter, when we got in there, I could tell their tongues were hanging out,” Burrus said. “Ours were too. But we said now is the time to put the pedal down, and we’ve got to push through the wall. We’re at home. We’ve got the crowd behind us. Let’s see our juniors. Let’s see the maturity.”

Said Jadyn Field of North Judson being fatigued: “Honestly, I think they were fighting a little fatigue. We were too, of course, but I feel like our team, we’re really starting to be cohesive, and we’re having really lockdown defense. And I feel like that when we communicate really well like what we did in the fourth quarter, it really helps us out.”

The game seemed to pivot on what happened with 4.7 seconds left in the third quarter. Jadyn Field fouled Johnston on a drive as Rochester was hanging on to a 28-26 lead. The foul was Jadyn Field’s fourth.

Johnston missed the first free throw. Her second free throw went in but was disallowed due to a lane violation on freshman Annabell Kennedy.

Wilson took the inbounds pass and dribbled up with her left hand. She appeared to lose control of the ball momentarily but got past Kaia Burkett, recovered the ball, squared herself to the basket and poured in a 23-footer at the buzzer.

Instead of potentially being tied, Rochester had a five-point lead.

Jadyn Field stayed in to start the fourth, and she scored on a putback. Then she hit a 15-footer from the right wing. Then younger sister Ali kicked out to her for a 3-pointer. The lead was 38-26, and North Judson called a timeout.

Then Jadyn Field made two free throws. Then Jadyn Field slid inside DeBoard for an offensive rebound of a Hunter 3 that hit nothing but glass and laid it in and drew DeBoard’s fifth foul. The free throw made it 43-26.

“Before halftime, I had three fouls, and I was really, really frustrated with myself, and Burrus, he really showed his emotions with me in the locker room, but that just made me want to push myself even more and get back out on the court and prove that I could get over it, even with four fouls,” Jadyn Field said.

After a timeout, Rochester did some post-to-post and Field-to-Field passing – Jadyn in the left block to Ali in the right block for a layup.

“The first half, when the boat started rocking and we had some adversity, I’ll be honest with you: Me and Jadyn Field had a come-to-Jesus moment in there at halftime,” Burrus said. “And she agreed with me, but that third foul, what the heck are you doing? And then she comes out in the second half and just plays really well, and Sis, welcome to varsity basketball. I mean, unbelievable what she was able to do.”

A Wilson steal and breakaway layup capped the 19-0 run.

In the JV game, North Judson beat Rochester 37-32. Kyleigh Little led Rochester with 13 points, Alexandria Cortes-Gustafson had six, Lyla Bowers had five, Kyla Conley had three, Hope Baugh had three, and Jayla Miller had two. 

This was Rochester’s first full-time JV game since Burrus was named coach in 2022.

Rochester 50, North Judson 27

NORTH JUDSON (27) (0-1)

Shiloh DeBoard 1 1-4 4, Cailyn Tunis 4 1-2 9, Grace Craig 1 0-0 2, Avaree Johnston 3 0-4 7, Macy Morrow 0 0-0 0, Ella Chambers 0 0-0 0, Kaia Burkett 0 0-0 0, Braelyn Lewandowski 0 0-0 0, Charlize Boyd 0 0-0 0, Annabell Kennedy 1 3-4 5

TEAM: 10 5-14 27

ROCHESTER (50) (1-0)

Aubrey Wilson 4 6-8 17, Adalyn Gonzalez 0 0-0 0, Brailyn Hunter 2 4-4 9, Jadyn Field 4 5-5 14, Ali Field 3 0-2 6, Lyla Bowers 1 0-0 3, Hope Baugh 0 1-2 1, Kyleigh Little 0 0-0 0, Kyla Conley 0 0-0 0, Bailey Smith 0 0-0 0, Jayla Miller 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 14 16-21 50

Three-point field goals:

North Judson 2 (Johnston, DeBoard),

Rochester 6 (Wilson 3, J. Field, Hunter, Bowers)

Total fouls: North Judson 19, Rochester 20

Fouled out: DeBoard (NJSP), 3:44, fourth

Turnovers: North Judson 14, Rochester 18

Score by quarters

North Judson 4 11 11 1 – 27

Rochester 8 10 13 19 – 50

JV: North Judson 37, Rochester 32