LBI: Inside the Game Summary

2016 Regionals No. 3 Play

“River Rats Trounce Warriors”

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Belleville High School

Belleville High School played host to the 2016 Michigan Regionals No. 3 tournament this week and Tuesday night was the semi-finals.  In the first game,  Ann Arbor Huron took on Woodhaven for a chance at the Regional Championship on Thursday.

The Huron River Rats started off strong.  From the get go they put together a 12-0 run capped off by a layup from Sophomore Shamim Wambere.  The Woodhaven Warrior would finally get things in gear and cap off the quarter with a triple from Sophomore Kennedy Johnson and a buzzer beater by Senior Lyndsay Brennan.  After the 1st, the River Rats led 18-8.

The 2nd quarter proved to be a lot closer as Woodhaven was able to keep pace with Huron.  Brennan would add another layup and late in the quarter Senior Hailey Leidel got a basket and a foul.  She would add the and 1 as well.  At the other end of the court, Senior Cheah Rael-Whisitt would get a big layup with 30 seconds to go.   Right afterwards, Woodhaven gets a fast break but they would be denied once the Huron defense caught back up.  At the half, Huron would only add a point to their lead: 29-18.

The 3rd quarter would belong to the River Rats.  Junior Kara Wilson would open things up with a layup, that would start a 9-0 run and they would prevent another fast break moments later.  Woodhaven would put together a quick 6-0 run after a pair of triples by Leidel and Johnson but they would only be able to add one more basket for the rest of the quarter.  Meanwhile Senior Mia Long would add a layup with 10 seconds to go to give Huron a 49-26 lead into the final quarter.

Huron would continue to add to their momentum in the 4th as they immediately get a pick and roll from Junior Katlyn Brownlee.  Leidel would add a triple with five minutes to go for the Warriors but they would be scoreless for the next 3 minutes.  Long and Wambere would get layups as part of a 6-0 run to lock this one up.  Ann Arbor Huron wins 65-39, they will play the Bedford Kicking Mules for the Regional Title on Thursday at Belleville High.

Leading scorers of the night: Woodhaven: Hailey Leidel 18, Kennedy Johnson 9, Lyndsay Brennan 4.  Huron: Cheah Rael-Whitsitt 18, Mia Long 12, Shamim Wambere 10.

Game and Team Highlights

Woodhaven:

• Woodhaven would do a great job staying out of foul trouble as they took very few fouls until late in the 4th.
• The Seniors: Leidel, Brennan and Sykes, all got standing ovations from their crowd when they were taken out of the game for the final time.

Huron:

• The River Rats showed great speed on defense as they were able to catch up and deny what would have been two fast breaks by Woodhaven.

• Huron was also good at keeping up the pressure on Woodhaven as they put together 12-0, 9-0 and 6-0 runs in three different parts of the game.