Fremont Ross girls play faster, looser 2nd half in win
FREMONT - Who needs set plays and a rigid structure?
Not the Fremont Ross girls basketball team.
After an uneven first half, Lady Giants coach Juan Vela took the harness off his team and watched it run freely and play as at its most comfortable. The result made visiting Port Clinton decidedly uncomfortable.
Ross outscored Port Clinton by a 2-to-1 margin in the third quarter and never looked back in a 51-36 win Tuesday night.
“At the beginning of the second quarter Coach told us to run some plays and stuff, then, at halftime, he said, ‘You know what, let’s play our game. No rules, let’s just take it to them,’” senior Elayna Ackerman said. “And we did.”
Ross started out much like its season-opening win over Sandusky Friday. Using defense on one end to produce points on the other to take a 15-6 lead into the second quarter.
Then Vela wanted his team to run a half-court offense and get the ball down low against Port Clinton’s zone defense. As the Lady Giants struggled to find their offensive rhythm, Port Clinton made its best offensive surge of the night. The Redskins went on an 11-0 run over six minutes and briefly took the lead before Ross regained the advantage 20-18 going at halftime.
“We tend to think a lot,” senior Valerie Samson said of Ross’ half-court play. “And when he said just to go play, it took the pressure off from just getting it into the post. It made us more free in our heads.”
Vela took let his team off the leash in the third quarter. Free to play at its preferred pace, running the floor, driving the lane and kicking out for perimeter shots, Ross quickly asserted itself.
Samson hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening two minutes of the second half. Matallyn Overmyer then scored in the post off a Lexi Holmes assist. Ackerman then scored on a pair of drives to the basket before Holmes closed the period with a steal and a fastbreak layup as Ross took a 38-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
“Sometimes I think players think too much and it slows them down, so at halftime I said, ‘You girls know how to play. Just go play,’” Vela said.
Samson led Ross (2-0) with 15 points, including three buckets from 3-point range, while Ackerman added 13 with seven rebounds and four steals while Holmes had nine points, three steals and three assists.
“The thing started going and they started having fun and just playing and not worrying about the score,” Vela said. “I think that’s ultimately what the difference was.”
Ross’ defense totaled 14 steals as Port Clinton (0-3) turned the ball over 25 times. Marissa Day scored a game-high 17 points, including four 3-pointers, but the Redskins’ lack of ball control and experienced second scoring options proved a costly combination.
“We struggle to score sometimes right now and that’s obvious,” Port Clinton coach Toby Bickel said. “We struggle from time to time handling the ball a little bit and we struggle to put the ball in the basket.”
rmcgowan@gannett.com
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Stat Book
Port Clinton 6-12-9-9 — 36
Fremont Ross 15-5-18-13 — 51
Away Team: 11 10-14 36. 3FG 4 (Day 4) 18 rebounds (Alexander 7), 25 turnovers, 4 assists (Swander 2), 4 steals. Scoring: Day 6 1-1 17, Laurel 1 1-2 3, Alexander 2 5-7 9, Kleinhans 1 2-2 4, Hiller 1 0-0 2.
Home Team: 20 7-14 51. 3FG 4 (Samson 3, Widman 1), 29 rebounds (Ackerman 7), 15 turnovers, 8 assists (Holmes 3), 14 steals (Ackerman 4, Holmes 3). Scoring: Ackerman 5 3-7 13, Widman 1 0-0 3, Holmes 3 3-5 9, Samson 6 0-0 15, Overmyer 2 1-2 5, Lamalie 1 0-0 2, Bulger 2 0-0 4.