After a touching dedication of the new high school gymnasium to Oxford Coach Ian Smith, the Wildcat Girls Varsity Basketball Team suffered a depressing 40-35 loss to Rochester.
The Lady Wildcats opened their Oxford Ian Smith Invitational strong with a five point lead over Rochester at the end of the first period. The ladies lost their steam though in the second, allowing Rochester to close the point gap 21-18.
‘We came back in the third quarter and just played bad,? said Head Coach Becky Graves, ‘by the fourth quarter it was just too late.?
Vanessa Collier led the Wildcats in scoring with 11 points. She went 4 for 4 on the line and had one three-pointer.
‘Vanessa Collier played her heart out,? said Graves. ‘She did not give up. She was intense and determined. She tried the hardest and did the best for us.?
Other top scorers included Megan Stumph with seven points and Ally Zonsius with six.
Overall Oxford shot 11 for 22 on the free-throw line, a better average than Rochester’s one for nine. However the Lady Cats allowed 31 turnovers in the game and, by the second half, the Oxford defense could not contain Rochester’s Brittany Jones, who ended the game with 14 points.
‘We had a lot of opportunities to win the game,? said Graves, ‘we just didn’t take them.?
Rochester went on to confront Carmen-Ainsworth while the Wildcats played a consolation game against Lake Orion on August 26, losing the match-up 47-31.
High scorer was Kacey Cookingham with 10 points (four field goals and two for two on the line). Coach Graves commented that the Oxford center could have had even more, but her game was plagued by offensive rebounds from missed shots.
‘She played the best game,? Graves said. ‘She probably could have had 30 points.?
Other notable players for the night included Nicole Essman, who was in the game 4? minutes and got four points, and Kelsey Oliver, with six points. Oliver was injured during the match-up and ended up out for a good portion of the game, but Coach Graves expects her recover quickly.
‘We just could not seem to get it together,? Graves later concluded. ‘Players off the bench that came in did a real great job for us though, and we really got some points there.?
The Lady Wildcats hit the court again at Crosswell-Lexington on Wednesday, Sept. 1. After that, they play Goodrich at home Thursday, Sept 9.