The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Kiser, Rossi heat up in VVS holiday title run
Alexa Kiser and Anna Rossi played big roles in helping the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Red Devils capture the 2017 Christmas Classic title as Randy Thomas’ side posted consecutive wins this week.
VERONA, N.Y. » Last season, Waterville spoiled the holidays for the Vernon-VeronaSherrill girls basketball side, defeating the Red Devils in the title game of the 2016 Christmas Classic.
Thursday, Randy Thomas’ VVS team extracted a measure of revenge, overcoming a deficit to topWaterville 6053 for the 2017 Christmas Classic title.
A night after being held to nine points, Alexa Kiser led VVS with 19 points. She also hauled in 15 rebounds for a double-double.
“Last year, I think they beat us, so it feels great to come back and get the win,” Kiser said after the game, before breaking down what went well for the Red Devils on offense. “Movement off the ball, on the ball. Setting screens for one another. Driving to the basket is my strength, butwe just worked together well. We knew to keep going, keep pushing.”
“The last couple of games, Alexa has been struggling, but I told her it would come. When they went man-toman, that’s what we wanted them to do because I knew we could get her the ball. She takes the ball to the basket really well; she’s a great athlete,” Thomas said. “She really came through for us today.”
Teammates Morgan Brewer, 14, and McKenna Berry, 11, also reached double figures for the Red Devils. VVS’ Anna Rossi, a night after going off for 20 points, posted nine points on Thursday and was named to the all-tournament team aswell.
Waterville’s Sophie Wittenbeck posted a game-high 20 points, connecting on four shots from behind the arc and earning an all-tournament selection.
VVS opened the contest with four quick points but would not capture the lead again until Lindsey Foster came off the bench and converted a huge and-1 playwith 2:10 remaining in the third quarter to give VVS a 35-33 edge. Until that point, Waterville had been able to keep VVS at arm’s length, never leading by double digits, but never trailing again either. Following the Foster score, Waterville came right back down the floor and Emilie Phillips converted an and-1 play of her own for a 36-35 lead. Kiser found space in the paint on the Red Devil’s next possession before Wittenbeck closed the quarter with a jumper as the clock wound down. At the end of three, Waterville clung to a 38-37 lead.
“I think our intensity was good thewhole game. We really played four quarters of basketball. They are a great team. They have shooters that can shoot the 3. They do a nice job of setting the high screen and getting shots,” Thomas said. “But I told the girls that if we could keep it close for all four quarters, we would have a shot at the end...our offense is starting to click a little bit.”
The two teams continued to trade buckets to open the final quarter. Brewer hit a baseline jumper on an inbounds play to give VVS a 39-38 lead, but Wittenbeck came right back with another three-pointer for a 41- 39 lead moments later. Undeterred, Brewer responded with a corner three to answer right back, and Kiser followed with an offensive board and put-back on the Red Devils’ next possession for a 44-43 VVS lead.
After a Wittenbeck foul shot tied the game at 44, Kiser and Brewer struck again. Kiser drove the lane, earning a trip to the line where she converted both attempts before Brewer buried another jumper for a 48-44 lead. The two teams traded buckets before Kiser scored in the paint again for a 52-46 VVS lead with 2:30 left. Wittenbeck earned back-to-back trips to the line on Waterville’s next two offensive possessions, going 3 of 4 to cut the Red Devil lead to 52-49. VVS came right back with a coast-to-coast layup byKiser to push its lead back to 54-49 with under a minute left to play. From there, Waterville tried to extend the game on the foul line, but Berry came through for VVS, hitting 6 of 8 from the line down the stretch to ice the game and capture the title with a 6053 VVS win.
“Thatwas a key to thewin at the end,” Thomas said of the Berry’s foul shooting.
Wednesday - Opening Round
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s best offense on Wednesday was its defense as a smothering Red Devils full-court defense held Carthage in check for a 58-26 victory in the opening round of the VVS Christmas Classic.
Freshman Anna Rossi led all scorers with 20 points for the Red Devils to go with three steals and three assists.
Alexa Kiser nearly had a double-double for VVS coach Randy Thomas’ side, posting nine points, 10 boards, and also leading VVS with five assists.
Claire Odett led Carthage with 13 points.
Rossi scored seven of her 20 points in the first quarter as VVS jumped out to a 15-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
VVS’ full court, trapping defense, which collected eight steals, limitedCarthage to a combined 13 points in the second and third quarters as the hosts continued to ramp up their defensive intensity.
“I thought that we came out slow in the beginning of the game. We wanted to come out fast,” Thomas said. “We turned up the defense in the second quarter and came out strong in the third quarter, did what we had to do to win.”
The Red Devils continued their convincing performance in the third as Rossi dropped 10 points in the quarter, hounding Carthage ball- carriers along with McKennaBerryandMorgan Brewer who each collected a pair of steals on the evening.
“Anna does a nice job for us. She creates a lot of things. Throughout the yearwe have been trying together to take the ball to the hoop, which you saw tonight,” he said. “She’s really kind of the quarterback of our offense.”
With the win, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill moves to 3-4 on the season and will face Waterville in the Christmas Classic championship game.
Carthage falls to 0-8 following the loss.