The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
VVS rallies past Notre Dame
Brewer leads VVS charge, Thomas collects 100th win
For the first quarter of Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s season opener against Utica Notre Dame, junior Morgan Brewer was held scoreless as the Red Devils faltered on the offensive end.
The final three periods followed a different script.
Brewer exploded for 34 points - 15 points coming in the second quarter alone - to help lead her side to a 51-47 Tri-Valley League victory. The Red Devil forward added 10 rebounds for a doubledouble.
“One of the things Morgan has improved on a lot since last year is her ball handling, able to create space and get jump shots. She gets the ball down low, and now she is a threat down low. We knew coming in they would play strong defense on her,” VVS coach Randy Thomas - who was also enjoyed his 100th career coaching win - said. “It was a team effort though. We played defense when we had to. We took some charges; we got some people in foul trouble.”
“It was a good win for the first game of the year. I amvery proud of the kids.”
Rossi also posted a double-double for VVS with 10 points and 10 assists.
Ajla Sedjic led the visitors with
17 points, and Haylee Heffernan followed with 12 points on four 3-pointers.
Notre Dame opened the scoring with a Sedjic triple off the tip. The hosts got off to a rocky start, turning the ball over on four straight possessions before Rossi picked off a pass for a lay-in and the Red Devil’s first bucket. The Red Devil junior point guard kept her teamin the contest throughout the rest of the frame, seemingly having an answer for each Juggler score. Caitlin Snyder scored in the paint for a 5-2 visitor lead, but Rossi faked a pass and went in for a layup for VVS next score. Sedjic drained a 3-pointer for the visitors; Rossi answered with another driving score. Snyder split a pair at the line for a 9- 6 lead; Rossi banked home a triple even the score at 9-9. The Jugglers, however, were able to close the period on backto-back 3-balls from Snyder and Heffernan to take a 15-9 lead.
The visitors picked up where they left off to open the second when Sedjic buried another shot from beyond the arc to extend the advantage to 18-9. VVS continued to struggle with possession, opening the second with five straight turnovers.
Then, Brewer went to work. The junior forward connected on a runner in traffic and followed that with a jab-step 3-pointer to cut the Notre Dame advantage to 18-14. The Jugglers came back with a 5-point run to extend their lead back to 23-14 with 2:11 on the first half clock. VVS answered with a pair of Brewer makes from the charity stripe and a pumpfake and drive to pull within five points at 23-18. Sedjic converted 1-of-2 from the line for Notre Dame’s next score, but Brewer got free on an inbound play to drain a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in the half. Sedjic came back with a runner for a 26-21 visitor lead, but once again, Brewer had the answer from distance to help her team shave the Juggler lead to 26-24 before the half.
“I definitely think with Alexa [Kiser] gone, I had to kind of fill in her shoes and not just be a shooter on the outside but also be that force inside the post. Be able to post people up and go into people tough andmakemy foul shots like she did,” Brewer said. “In between the first and second quarter, I told [Coach] Thomas, ‘She’s on me right away.’ And he told me, ‘I know but you have to find your space.’ So, I knew I had to post up just to see it go in a few times. Luckily, Anna [Rossi] found me in transition a few times, and the shots were just falling.”
Out of the break, the two teams continued to trade baskets. Heffernan sunk a 3-pointer for Notre Dame, but Brewer took advantage of hustle defense by teammate Abby Nell, who forced a Juggler backcourt violation, sinking a pair of free throws for VVS’ first points of the second half. Franchesca LoConti netted another long distance shot for the Jugglers’ next score before Brewer grabbed her own offensive rebound for a put-back. Midway through the third, with Notre Dame up 34-28, Rossi fed a cutting Marissa Nell for a layup of an inbound play.
The Red Devils scored again off an inbound play moments later when Rossi fed Brewer for an and-1 to cut the Juggler lead to 34-33 with 2:06 left in the third. 20 seconds later, VVS took its first lead of the night when Brewer drew a foul on a shot from deep and sunk a trio of attempts from the line to give the Devils a 36-34 lead. Notre Dame took advantage of a technical foul on VVS with less than a minute to go as Sedjic hit the back end of a pair of free throw attempts. The game came to a halt during the Sedjic’s free throw tries as a result of a classless move from the visiting section when a fan launched what appeared to be a full soda bottle at the VVS student section. Once play resumed, Sedjic drew a foul in the waning seconds, converting 1-of-2 from the line to knot things up at 36-36 with one quarter left.
Brewer continued to find the bottom of the net in the final period, using a spin move in the post to put VVS up 38-36. Back-to-back 3’s from Heffernan put the visitors back up 42-38 before Abby Nell fed Brewer for shot fromdistance. Sedjic came right back with an old-fashioned 3-point play, but Abby Nell slashed through the lane and dished to Marissa Nell for an easy hoop to answer for the hosts. With 3:45 left on clock, Notre Dame clung to a 45-43 advantage. Disaster struck for the visitors out of the timeout as Rossi drew a charge on Snyder to give the Notre Dame standout her fifth and final foul. With the momentum and crowd fervor building in VVS’ favor, Brewer connected on a baby hook to tie the contest at 45-45 and prompt at Notre Dame timeout with 2:52 to play.
Out of the timeout, Sierra Kinne took a pass from Rossi and buried a triple to put the hosts up 48- 45. A minute later, Sedjic inched Notre Dame back within a point on a runner before Brewer grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul on the putback attempt, netting each of her ensuing free throws for a 50-47 VVS lead at the 1:20 mark. VVS defense did not surrender a point the rest of the way, and the Red Devils held on for a 51-47 lead after the Jugglers tried to extend the game on the line.
“10 years ago, I probably would have been all nervous and upset at them,” Thomas said of his message to the team when they trailed big in the second. “I told them to take a deep breath and claw our way back into the game one basket at a time. It had to start at the defensive end. I have always believed that defense wins games. I think that’s what we had to do at the end and we got some big shots, and some kids stepped up and made big plays for us.”