FREMONT – Whenever Sandusky Perkins tried to make a push, Fremont Ross had an answer.
Jasannah Sabiers takes the ball to the basket against Perkins.
Hosting the Pirates in their home-opener, the Lady Giants opened an early lead, and made it stand up through the night, though Perkins made a series of runs to trim the deficit, yet never quite managing to do so completely as the Lady Giants held on for a 58-54 victory.
“The fourth quarter, I felt like our girls really stepped it up, even after (Perkins) got on fire there, in the last minute or so, our girls made some good stops and hit the free throws,” Vela said. “I always like seeing that because it’s that experience they start getting. Being in those situations, it’s healthy for the team.”
Perkins saved its best push for last. The Lady Giants held a comfortable, 14-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, only to see that lead vanish in a storm in 3-pointers from Perkins’ Olivia Howard and Nancy Siegel and Ross’ lead was pushed down to two with 1:20 to play.
Ross, however, didn’t rattle. Ross answered with a bucket in the post by Jasannah Sabiers on a nice assist from Mikeaya McLaurin to go ahead by four. Perkins then drained another 3-pointer to trim the deficit to one with 50 seconds to play, but the Pirates came no closer.
Sabiers connected on both ends of a 1-and-1 and then Olivia Baptista added another free throw with 15 seconds to play to push the lead to two possessions to seal the win.
“We had to switch the defense up and close that down,” Brooklyn Baptista said. “Coach Vela said the girls (defending) the two wings, don’t come in to help the drive, because they had the two good shooters on the wings get ready when Howard attacked (the basket), we had to stay out on them. Don’t get sucked in, stay out.”
Brooklyn Baptista dribbles around a Perkins defender.
Ross built its lead thanks to an impressive, balanced offensive performance. The Lady Giants led 16-7 after the first quarter in which all seven field goals were scored by seven different players, with assists on five of the buckets. Ross grew its lead to 13 late in the first half but when Perkins trimmed it down to seven with 90 seconds before halftime, the Pirates looked on the verge of taking momentum into halftime. That’s when Rachel Gore drove to the basket for a lay-in, drawing the foul as she did so. She completed the 3-point play and Ross took a 10-point lead into halftime.
The second half began with Brooklyn and Olivia Baptista combining for six points and an assist as Ross’ lead grew to 13.
The Lady Giants dominated under the glass, outrebounding Perkins 42-20, led by senior Molly Mies who had a game-high 10 rebounds and came two points shy of a double-double. Mies scored on a pair of fourth-quarter baskets on offensive rebound put-backs and assisted on two more baskets in the fourth after grabbing the offensive board.
“I have to keep working at it if I want more playing time, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Mies said. “I am more comfortable, but I still get butterflies every time I come in. …As soon as we came out on the court, the jitters went away. No one talked about being nervous anymore, we just played our game.”
Molly Mies shoots a jump shot against Perkins,
Mies, who played primarily as a junior varsity player as a junior last season, is one-third of a formidable frontcourt for the Lady Giants, along with Sabiers, who scored 11 points with eight rebounds and two blocks, and Marissa Overmyer who finished with five points, five rebounds and three assists from the post.
“She was a varsity player last year but with all the seniors we had last year and the guards, she wasn’t going to get much playing time at varsity, and she struggled with that, as far as playing JV last year,” Vela said of Mies. “But, looking back, I think it helped her grow as a player. She played all kinds of minutes she brought the ball up, she played everything and now we’re starting to benefit from that. I think this is just the beginning.”
Brooklyn Baptista and Gore led Ross with 12 points each, with Baptista grabbing six rebounds and Gore coming up with three steals.
“You really have to play good, team defense, against us, I think,” Vela said of his balanced offense. “What we’re trying to work on now is being consistent. We’ll have five good plays, then plays six and seven, we’ll do something off the wall. It’ll take time, but every girl can shoot, every girl can pass, every girl is unselfish. …It’s going to be a fun year, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
The win improves Ross to 2-0 overall. The Lady Giants are back in action Monday for its TRAC opener at Toledo Central Catholic.
FREMONT ROSS 58, SANDUSKY PERKINS 54
PERKINS (54)
Nancy Siegel 26, Olivia Hoard 18, Avery Bing 6, Sydney Thom 3, Kelley Baker 1.
ROSS (58)
Brooklyn Baptista 12, Olivia Baptista 8, Rachel Gore 12, Jasannah Sabiers 11, Marissa Overmyer 5, Molly Mies 8, Mikeaya McLaurin 2.