Rhodes: O-D leading scorer
HAMLET — How do you make your Senior Night memorable?
A win certainly helps, but how about becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer to boot? That’s exactly how it played out Thursday night as Oregondavis senior standout Mercedes Rhodes led her team to a 62-36 win over sectional foe Argos while also becoming O-D’S career leader scorer - boy or girl (see related story/box this page).
“I hurt my ankle last week against Triton so I didn’t know how I was going to feel, but I was feeling pretty good in the first half,” said Rhodes, who passed Ashley Campbell’s 1,867 total set in 2014 on a driving layup with 2:27 left in the game. She added two free throws after that and her total now stands at 1,871 and counting.
“She was pressing a little bit because her mom and dad were here and they don’t get to see her play a lot because they live five hours away,” added Oregon-davis head coach Terry Minix, whose team has now won five of its last seven as it heads into next week’s Bi-county tournament. “She wanted to score for them. She hit those long 3s at the start and I knew she was feeling pretty good.”
Needing 23 points to break the record, it looked like she might get them all in the first quarter as the senior sharpshooter scored the team’s first eight points, including two 3s from NBA range. O-D hit four treys in all in that first period as part of a 14-4 run to turn a four-point deficit into a 18-12 lead heading into the second stanza.
Argos scored the next five points to cut the lead to one, but the Lady Bobcats finished the quarter with another 12-4 flurry, aided by a pair of 3s from freshman reserve Reagan Danford, for a 30-21 halftime advantage.
Danford added another triple as part of a 16-5 third quarter for the home team and helped push the lead to the 20-point mark heading to the final frame.
The fourth quarter was all about when Rhodes would break the mark. She was seven points short and was option 1, 2, and 3 on offense for a while. She scored the first six points for O-D in the final period, then after a Mackenna Chessor free throw, had the scoring drive to end the suspense. Her 10 fourth-quarter points gave her 26 for the game.
Danford (four 3s) finished next with an even dozen. Maddie Hudspeth (7-8 FTS) had nine, while Chessor and Kylee Saylor had six apiece.
“We found some other people who can score too,” said Minix of the balanced scoring. “Reagan Danford did a nice job, coming in and hitting those 3s. I told the team before the game we’ve got to find somebody besides Mercedes and Maddie because everyone is going to key on them. You’re going to be open. You just need the confidence to knock them down. I thought Chessor did a nice job in the first half on defense anticipating passes. She got us going.”
Argos’ Elizabeth Edmonds had a fine game finishing with 15 points, followed by Madi Vanderweele with 12. The Lady Dragons played a box-and-one defense most of the game, with Vanderweele, Samantha Redinger and Cailey Markley taking turns guarding Rhodes manto-man while the rest of the team played zone. The freshman Redinger did a particularly good job when it was her turn.
Statistically, two things stood out. O-D had eight 3s, Argos none and the Lady Bobcats made 14 foul shots to just two for the Lady Dragons.
Argos, winner of seven of its last nine games, travels to Pioneer for its next contest Saturday.
• OREGON-DAVIS 62, ARGOS 36
At Hamlet
Argos 12 21 26 36
O-D 18 30 46 62 ARGOS: Samantha Redinger 1 0-0 2, Sydney Shepherd 3 0-0 6, Isabella Stults 0 0-0 0, Emma Dunlap 0 1-2 1, Madi Vanderweele 6 0-1 12, Carleigh Miller 0 0-0 0, Sophie Bollenbacher 0 0-1 0, Liz Edmonds 7 1-1 15, Cailey Markley 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 2-5 36. OREGON-DAVIS: Elizabeth Johnson 1 0-0 3, Reagan Danford 4 0-0 12, Madilynn Hudspeth 1 7-8 9, Mackenna Chessor 2 1-2 6, Mercedes Rhodes 9 6-8 26, Madison Wireman 0 0-0 0, Kylee Saylor 3 0-0 6, Hemi Stone 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 14-18 62. 3-pointers: Argos none, O-D 8 (Danford 4, Rhodes 2, Chessor, Johnson). Fouls (fouled out): Argos 15 (none), O-D 12 (none) Records: Argos 7-9, O-D 9-8