The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
ON THE REBOUND?
Big Red girls give Grosse Ile a battle
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 31, 2008
Despite trailing by as few as six points as late as the fourth quarter, the Milan girls' basketball team didn't get their first win of the season playing on the road at league power Grosse Ile Thursday night. In the end the scoreboard showed a decisive victory for the Red Devils at 70-45.
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But after the disappointment of the previous week's outing against Flat Rock, head coach Jeff Davis said that not only was the final score deceptive, he was happy with the improvement and fight shown by his Big Reds facing a tough team away from home.
"It was very encouraging," he said afterward. "That's as hard as we've played all year. We executed better than we have since the first games of the year. I'm proud of the way they played."
Milan had held the Red Devils to 41 points through three quarters before the home team exploded with 29 in the final eight minutes to pull away from the Big Reds.
Davis said his team's performance was a result of a "team meeting" earlier in the week in which some lingering team issues were ironed out and the team refocused on finishing the season with a surge.
"It was a fresh emotional start for us. It was almost like a new team," Davis said. "Tuesday and Wednesday we had great practices, we regained our trust in each other, and you could see the difference on Thursday."
The Big Reds were paced by Ashley Agar, who connected on three three-pointers and scored a season-high 19 points. She was joined in double figures by Lani Ernst, who netted 13 to go with six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Also finding their way onto the Milan scoresheet were Allie McAfee with four points, Stephanie Roe and Devon Cosner with three each, Whitney Farmer with two and Sarah Heath with one.
McAfee led the Big Reds in rebounds with 11, while Roe pulled down six. Agar recorded a team-high four steals while Cosner led Milan with three assists.
The Big Reds might have come closer to the upset had they been more consistent at the free throw line, where they finished just 6-of-21 for 29 percent.
The Big Reds faced a tall task playing host likely league champion St. Mary Catholic Central Tuesday night, but will travel to Monroe-Jefferson Friday to start a season-closing stretch of games that Davis feels confident his team should pull at least one win out of — if not more.
"We've got five winnable games, and if we play the way we played Thursday, we can win a couple of those," Davis said. "The girls were encouraged after the other night. They were fired up. It's like a new season and we're excited to see what happens."
Staff Writer Jerry Hinnen can be reached at 429-7380 or jhinnen@heritage.com.
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