Rochester relies on Wilson, stiff defense to beat Manchester

A. Field, J. Field combine for 26 rebounds

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Aubrey Wilson Ali Field

Aubrey Wilson scored 15 points, and the Rochester defense held Manchester leading scorer Emma Walker to one field goal in the second half in a 38-29 at the RHS gym Saturday.

Ali Field added eight points and 16 rebounds. Brailyn Hunter added eight points, and Jadyn Field had five points and 10 rebounds.

Rochester improved to 10-10 overall and 3-5 in the Three Rivers Conference. Manchester fell to 12-8 and finished TRC play 3-6. Whitko beat Northfield 71-38 Saturday to clinch the outright conference title with a 9-0 record.

Rochester built a 12-point lead in the third quarter before Manchester closed on an 8-1 run to trim the deficit to 26-21 going into the fourth.

But Rochester held Manchester without a field goal for a nine-minute stretch in the second half, and Wilson outscored the entire Manchester team 9-8 in the fourth quarter. She scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, putting in a driving banker from the left side after Walker gambled but missed attempting a steal.

Rochester’s other field goal in the fourth quarter came on a driving banker from freshman reserve Hope Baugh on a press breaker that made it 35-26 with just over two-and-a-half minutes left.

Wilson also went 7 for 8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and reestablished a 12-point lead at 38-26 on two free throws with 25.6 seconds left.

Rochester coach Joel Burrus later said that Wilson’s thigh injury, suffered in an inadvertent collision with teammate Adalyn Gonzalez against Taylor Wednesday, was a “mess” and that Wilson did not even practice Thursday. Burrus later called Wilson a “gamer.”

Walker, who came in averaging 13 points per game, led the Lady Squires with 11.

The teams combined for 43 fouls and 43 free throw attempts. Three players – two from Rochester and one from Manchester – fouled out.

“That’s one we’ve been striving for,” Burrus said. “We’ve got a lot of good teams here down the stretch, teams with winning records. Manchester just put up 62 at North Miami. You talk about a concern going into that game. To hold them to 29 points … I just can’t say enough about our defensive effort.”

Walker opened the scoring with a runner in the lane, but Manchester did not have a field goal the last 6:55 of the first quarter, and Ali Field scored twice, once on an assist from Jadyn Field and the other on a putback.

Rochester never trailed after the first quarter.

A Wilson 3-point play off a transition opportunity and a Brailyn Hunter putback got the lead to 17-8. Hunter hit what turned out to be the Lady Zs’ only 3-pointer on a kickout pass from the post from Ali Field to maintain a 22-13 halftime lead.

Gonzalez’s awkward transition layup with a lefty finish opened the scoring in the second half. When Jadyn Field split a pair of free throws with 3:03 left in the quarter, the lead was 12.

Reserve Olivia Stevens hit two 3-pointers for Manchester to carve into the lead.

Still, Burrus praised the defense and Baugh, the team’s primary reserve, for staying strong.

“Even though we scored four, we didn’t blow up defensively,” Burrus said. “We only gave up eight. … That was a learning experience for Hope there. Hope’s a coachable kid. I’ve told these freshmen I’m going to get on you at this point in the season. Because you know the scout … And she was receptive, and I know she was hurting that she didn’t get those coverages, but I liked that she’s coachable in that moment. She knew that she didn’t get out there, but she also hit a big bucket late in the game for us too.”

Burrus said Ali Field “had her best game of the year.”

Ali Field said she was “really surprised” when she was told how many rebounds she had.

“I feel like I played really well after not playing games very well,” Ali Field said. “I think this was my best (first) half of the year. I had good defense in the second half, but I didn’t score very much. … Their pressure was very good. We had to make a few changes to our press break because they doubled Aubrey whenever she wasn’t taking it out. And we had to change it, and then we got the ball in, and we just went down the court.”

Rochester subsequently drew Manchester in Class 2A, Sectional 38. The rematch is at Wabash at 6 p.m. Feb. 3 in the quarterfinals.

Manchester won the JV game 23-15. Alexandria Cortes-Gustafson led Rochester with six, Kyla Conley had three, and Lyla Bowers, Hope Baugh and Kyleigh Little had two each.

Rochester 38, Manchester 29

MANCHESTER (29) (12-8, 3-6)

Ava Sautter 0 0-0 0, Peyton Ream 0 1-2 1, Hadley West 0 4-8 4, Allie Egolf 0 0-0 0, Emma Walker 4 2-2 11, Olivia Stevens 3 0-0 8, Elin Betten 0 5-6 5

TEAM: 7 12-20 29

ROCHESTER (10-10, 3-5)

Aubrey Wilson 3 9-11 15, Brailyn Hunter 2 1-4 6, Adalyn Gonzalez 1 0-0 2, Jadyn Field 2 1-2 5, Ali Field 3 2-6 8, Lyla Bowers 0 0-0 0, Hope Baugh 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 12 13-23 38

Three-point field goals:

Manchester 3 (Stevens 2, Walker),

Rochester 1 (Hunter)

Total fouls: Manchester 23, Rochester 20

Fouled out: A. Field (RHS), 3:37, fourth; Gonzalez (RHS), 2:47, fourth; Egolf (MAN), :25.6, fourth

Turnovers: Manchester 10, Rochester 23

Score by quarters

Manchester 3 10 8 8 – 29

Rochester 8 14 4 12 – 38

JV: Manchester 23, Rochester 15