Maplewood wins for 11-0 record

The Rockets defeated Mathews, 57-40, to improve to 4-0 in the NAC.

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

VIENNA — Maplewood High broke open a close game with a 28-13 second half to win a Northeastern Athletic Conference girls basketball showdown Thursday night over host Mathews.

The Rockets went to 11-0 on the season with the 57-40 triumph.

The teams entered the game at 3-0 in the NAC and the first half played out just like a battle between league leaders. Neither team led by more than five points and the half ended with Maplewood on top, 29-27.

Maplewood’s Kristen Schwartz scored the first hoop of the third quarter and the Mustangs’ Carly Roscoe countered with a 3-pointer to make the score 31-30. Maplewood then went on an 11-0 run for a 42-30 advantage with 2:41 remaining in the quarter. The Rockets ended the quarter with a 45-33 advantage and Mathews (6-2) never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

“We took a look at where they were trying to get the ball throughout the first half and we just made a little adjustment in our zone defense to try to cover up the baseline a little bit more,” Maplewood coach Mark Yoder said about the Rockets’ second-half dominance. “We did a pretty nice job with that. Also, our post players’ footwork was a little bit off in the first half, so they were starting to move into position a little bit better in the second half.

“We were able to get them to force some shots and we got some turnovers with tipped passes.”

Guard Michelle Sloan led the Rockets with 19 points. Schwartz added 16 points inside and Melissa Sloan came off the bench to score 11.

Maplewood held a 32-19 rebounding edge as Schwartz grabbed eight, to go with four blocked shots, and Ellie Engstrom had six rebounds.

Senior forward Leah Dean had a tough shooting night (2-of-15) but contributed seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. Michelle Sloan added five assists and Melissa Sloan had five rebounds.

“When we are playing well, what I like best about us is how we play as a team on offense,” Yoder said. “You can tell when we’re playing well because the ball is moved, we make seven, eight, sometimes nine passes in our offense, and we always end up with an open, uncontested shot. That’s what I like the best, when we play offense as a team.”

Mathews was paced offensively by Carly Roscoe with 12 points, Alli Stein with 10, and Rachel Roscoe and Jill Armentrout with seven each. Stein grabbed seven rebounds and Lindsay Buckner dished out six assists. Her absence at times due to foul trouble hindered the Mustangs’ defensive effort.

“We have to play better defense, get some kind of pressure on them,” Mathews coach John Cicero said when asked what the Mustangs have to do against the Rockets when they meet again later in the season. “We played a great first half, I thought, but ran out of gas the second half.”