West Bloomfield girls knock off Rockford in epic Division 1 semifinal
Wright Wilson
EAST LANSING – We’d seen this one before, but everyone seemed to be looking forward to the rematch between West Bloomfield and Rockford, the Free Press’ top two-ranked teams in the state.
Meeting for the third consecutive year at the Breslin Center, West Bloomfield won the rubber game of the series by grinding out a 55-47 overtime victory.
West Bloomfield won a 2022 semifinal en route to a state title. Rockford extracted revenge last year with a 40-36 win in the Division 1 final. And Friday’s semifinal was every bit as good as advertised.
Miss Basketball finalist Summer Davis (Georgia) hit 10 of her 12 free-throw attempts in overtime after her twin sister, Indya (Georgia), banked in a deep 3-pointer from a few feet behind the arc as regulation expired, tying the game at 45. Summer’s free throws accounted for all of the Lakers’ overtime scoring, and they allowed Rockford just two makes from the line during that stretch.
“If it comes down to a shot, I tell someone I want the shot, give me the ball,” Indya Davis said. “As soon as the ball left my hands I knew it was good. That’s the type of shot that you see in movies. We really believed in that shot because we practice that every single day, every night. When it went in, it was our day.”
“I wasn’t questioning her wanting the ball because it went in,” Summer Davis said. “It wasn’t a surprise because we were playing to win.”
“That’s Indya and Summer, all day long,” West Bloomfield coach Darrin McAllister said. “They practice that. I wasn’t shocked by it. I knew at the end of the day, they weren’t ready to go home and schedule a banquet. They wanted to keep playing.”
West Bloomfield advances to Saturday’s final against Grand Blanc, but it wasn’t easy, as it had to erase a 13-point deficit from the mid-point of the third quarter.
But that’s when Rockford’s offense went into a dry spell and West Bloomfield crept back into it and tied the score at 39 with 4:57 to play, on Indya Davis’ jumper from the free-throw line.
West Bloomfield’s aggressive defense — buoyed by a full-court press — took the spotlight during the comeback, as they goaded Rockford into three turnovers, a jump ball and four missed 3-pointers.
“They’re really long, so it’s kind of hard to get some passes through when you want to, and they change up their defense a lot, so that throws you off a tiny bit,” Rockford captain Grace Lyons said. “And they executed well.”
But it came with a price. Starting guard Destiny Washington fouled out with 6 minutes to play, the Davis twins each played with four fouls, and Rockford was in the bonus for the last three minutes.
Rockford led, 42-41, after Grace Lyons’ floater with 2:23 left. After West Bloomfield got two back from Kendall Hendrix (Loyola Chicago), the Rams went into a deliberate offense to eat clock and draw a foul. Jordan Mateer split the bonus free throws to put Rockford ahead 4341, but Summer Davis could only make the first of two free throws with 11.6 seconds left, and Rockford rebounded the second.
“We’ve played them three times and they’ve all been really good games,” Rockford coach Brad Wilson said. “They obviously have a ton of talent, they’re well-coached, they have a good program, and when they walked in wearing that camouflage today, it was like they were on a mission. You can’t help but respect that. We were on a mission, too, to defend our crown. It’s a good rivalry because we have a lot of respect for each other.”
West Bloomfield (26-1) got off to the hot start as Summer Davis (22 points) drained consecutive 3-pointers in the first two minutes Indya (17 points) added two free throws for an 8-2 lead. The Lakers maintained a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, using their quickness to step in front of Rockford passes or poke away at Ram rebounds.
But the second quarter belonged to Rockford (26-2). The taller, lankier Rams asserted themselves on the boards, allowing West Bloomfield just one second-chance shot (a missed 3-pointer) and outscoring the Lakers, 19-5, to open up a 29-20 lead at the break. By that point, Rockford held a 19-10 edge in rebounding, including 8 offensive boards that produced a pair of put-back baskets by 6-foot sophomore Katie Higgins and another by Anna Wypych, who also stands 6-feet tall.
It didn’t help that West Bloomfield cooled off considerably from the floor, hitting just 30.4% of their first half shot attempts after going 2-of-10 (1-of-4 beyond the arc) in the second quarter.
By the midpoint of the third quarter, Rockford grew its lead to 35-22 on back-to-back Wypych baskets, swerving to the hoop for a lay-up, and following that up with a highglasser.
But that’s when Rockford’s offense went into a dry spell and West Bloomfield crept back into it and tied the score at 39 with 4:57 to play, on Indya Davis’ jumper from the free-throw line.