Ross guides Clippers to playoff win Junior scores 24 points in blowout of Prout
CUMBERLAND — Cumberland junior guard Julianne Ross made it abundantly clear in the opening two minutes of Saturday night’s Division II preliminary round game against Prout who the best player on the court was going to be all evening.
The point guard produced the game’s first seven points along with three steals to jump-start the normally offense-averse Clippers.
Ross scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the opening half and sisters Christine and Sydney Tilton combined for 11 points as the No. 3 Clippers advanced to the quarterfinals with a 60-37 victory over the No. 6 Crusaders.
“We really stepped it up in this game because last year we lost in the first round and we feel like we should’ve won the game,” Ross said. “I feel like we were really motivated to step it up and win the game.”
“I was really pleased that no matter what the situation and no matter what defense they went to we didn’t panic,” Cumberland coach George Coderre said. “We didn’t rush things. We took our time and were pretty much able to get what we were looking for. That shows maturity from this group.”
While the Clippers are a veteran group that starts all upperclassmen, the Crusaders don’t start a single senior and they clearly learned valuable lessons heading into next season when they should challenge for the II-South title.
Junior forward Kayla Barbera, who had to do most of the ball-handling duties in the second half with Ross hounding sophomore Colby Crosby, led the way offensively. Sophomore Carolina Hagerty and Crosby (nine points) also played well.
“We have no seniors and basically there is a future, but I was disappointed with the season,” Prout coach John Silva said. “I thought there was more talent than the record we have. We just couldn’t get those close wins and get over the top. The kids have to grow up next season and pick up some of those close wins so we can get a better seed.”
The Clippers will face what Coderre believes is a mirror image Monday night when they visit No. 2 East Greenwich. The Avengers, who are led by junior guard Courtney McMullen, are also a defense-first team.
“They’re a bit like us where they don’t score a ton and they don’t give up a ton,” Coderre said. “I have no idea if that’s good for us, but I know they’re well coached, they’re quick and they make good decisions. Being at their place, it’s an advantage to them.”
“I have no clue about them, but I’m excited and I know the team is excited,” Ross said.
The Crusaders didn’t score a basket for the first 3:23 of the opening half because they were hopelessly chasing Ross on breakaway baskets. The Clipper junior opened the scoring with a steal and a basket and then she scored five more points to increase the lead to 7-0.
Barbera stemmed the tide with a three-point play to get Prout on the scoreboard, but then Cumberland took advantage of Prout’s 3-2 zone – the same defense St. Raphael plays – to go on a 13-2 run over a 4:11 stretch. Ross, Christine Tilton, Abby Drezek and Sydney Tilton all hit 3pointers during the run.
“We’ve practiced a lot against the 3-2 zone and we’ve worked on how to play against it,” Ross said. “We found strategies to get by it because we really struggled the last time we went up against it.”
Silva eschewed the 3-2 zone in a favor of a man-toman approach and that allowed the visitors to cut two points off the Cumberland lead by halftime. The Clippers scored the first three points of the second half to open up an 18-point advantage.
“Obviously, we feed off of Julianne, but a lot of girls did a great job on girls who were bigger than them,” Coderre said.
Prout closed the gap to 14 points on two occasions – 3925 and 43-29 – but each time Cumberland had an answer. Senior Taylor Fay scored all seven of her points in the second half, but the night belonged to Ross.
“You have to give kudos to the kid because she was the best player on the floor tonight,” Silva said of Ross. “We couldn’t handle her getting the ball up the floor.”