Avery Wolters starts, finishes win for Marysville over Fraser
Marysville will take on Cousino in the MAC Blue-Gold title game
Avery Wolters practices what she preaches.
“I said to everyone before the game that we had to come out strong, build up the lead and keep going from there. Start with fire and build off of that,” said the Marysville senior.
Wolters went on to score 10 of her game-high 25 points in the first quarter to lead the Vikings to a 41-34 victory against Fraser Tuesday in a Macomb Area Conference tournament Blue/Gold bracket game.
The game was barely two minutes old and Marysville already had a 10-0 lead. Wolters scored the first seven points of the run, including a 3-point basket, and Adrien Collins capped the spurt with another trey.
That forced Ramblers coach Rob Fulgenzi to call a quick timeout.
“The first thing I said was ‘relax. The game’s just starting. There’s a long way to go. Let’s focus on our jobs and what we have to do on both ends of the floor,’” he said. “That start was the difference in the game.
“(Marysville) came ready to play. (Wolters) is a heck of a player and she took it to us early. We were playing catchup all the way but the girls didn’t quit. We kept playing hard. We kept moving on defense, getting steals. We had shots we normally make but we didn’t hit them tonight.”
Fraser battled back and cut the lead to 21-13 at halftime after a pair of layups by Izzy Norbeck. The Ramblers ended the third quarter on a 9-0 run to get within two points, 2826, going into the final quarter.
It seemed, however, that Marysville had an answer every time Fraser threatened to tie the game or take the lead. A basket by Carlee Woolum early in the fourth quarter put the Vikings up by four.
A 3-pointer by Jaida Oxendine got the Ramblers within a point, 32-31, with 3:50 left. Then it was time for Wolters to make her presence felt again. She scored on a putback, made a three-point play and secured the win with a pair of free throws. She had nine points in the fourth quarter.
“Anytime another team goes on a run we try to stop it as early as we can and keep building our momentum,” Wolters said.
Marysville coach Ryan Rathje said the Vikings have been relying on Wolters all season.