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Clevenger adds 12 in comeback from 9-point deficit in 4th quarter
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Aubree Wilson Brailyn Hunter Rylee Clevenger
DENVER — North Miami’s Kayden Donaldson inadvertently tripped and fouled Rochester’s Aubrey Wilson with the game tied and 22.7 seconds left during their girls basketball game Wednesday.
It turned out to be ironic as Wilson hit the go-ahead free throws, and the Lady Zs rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to trip up the host Lady Warriors 42-41.
Wilson scored eight of her career-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, and Rylee Clevenger hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter on her way to 12.
Brailyn Hunter had five, all in the final 1:27. That included a 3-pointer just from the right of the top of the key that tied it at 38.
After Wilson’s free throws gave Rochester their first lead of the second half, Hunter solidified the lead when she hit two free throws after grabbing a Donaldson miss and absorbing a Laney Musall foul with 4.7 seconds left.
The lead was 42-38, which turned out to be Rochester’s largest lead.
Musall hit a 3-pointer, and North Miami called timeout with 0.3 seconds left.
Hunter then inbounded to Ella McCarter to drain the rest of the clock.
Rochester improved to 3-0. The three-game winning streak is longer than any winning streak the Lady Zs had last year.
“They’re wise beyond their years,” Rochester coach Joel Burrus said of the sophomores Wilson and Hunter. “They’re smart kids. They know how to play the game.”
Musall scored 15 points, and Donaldson had eight of her 11 in the fourth quarter for North Miami, who fell to 1-2.
“We’ve got to just take care of the basketball a little bit better, make those little bounce passes in there,” North Miami first-year coach Nathan Curtis said. “We got sped up. And then on defense, we were not getting back and talking, and we left some wide-open shooters, and they hit some shots.”
North Miami led 26-17 with 6:44 left on a Grace Sailors layup off a Donaldson assist.
The comeback started with two McCarter free throws with 6:23 left. Clevenger canned a trey from the left corner to cut the lead to four.
A Musall putback and two Brealyn Correll free throws with 4:44 left – Audrey Bolinger fouled out on the play – pushed the lead back to 30-23, but Clevenger hit another 3, and Wilson made two free throws after a backcourt steal.
Correll found Donaldson for a layup on a press breaker, but a McCarter steal and hit-ahead pass to Wilson for a transition bunny made it 32-30.
“It got to the point where we had to pull the fire alarm there,” Burrus said. “It was like we got to get something going here. That pressure led to them having some turnovers. We got the ball down into the corner a couple times to R.J. (Clevenger), where she got her feet set. But she was really big in hounding the ball.”
Rochester had one turnover in the fourth quarter and eight for the game. North Miami had five turnovers in the fourth quarter and 21 for the game.
“Honestly, I think in the first half, our defense really wasn’t working that much, so we had to really pick it up in the second half,” Wilson said. “I think coach Burrus expects a lot about our defense, especially if we’re not hitting shots as much. He actually motivated us to be better on the defensive end and also rebounding, which I thought our bigs and everyone else did a great job rebounding tonight.”
Donaldson floated in another bucket on a press breaker, but McCarter drained a 3 to make it 34-33.
Donaldson hit a 12-footer off a Sailors assist, but Wilson hit a pullup 15-footer from the foul line.
Donaldson swished two free throws with 1:38 left to make it 38-35, but Wilson advanced the ball to the frontcourt and kicked to Clevenger on the left wing.
Hunter popped open and drilled a 22-footer to tie the game.
Donaldson then missed a left baseline jumper, and Hunter rebounded. She hit Clevenger with an outlet pass near the North Miami bench, and Musall knocked it out of Clevenger’s hands and out of bounds with 1:09 left.
The Lady Zs then drained 47 seconds off the clock before Donaldson and Wilson’s legs met nearly 30 feet from the basket.
She was headed back to the line after already missing five free throws in the second half.
“Honestly on that side, I couldn’t see the hole in the floor, the nail hole,” Wilson said. “So I just had to really think and calm myself and think, ‘It’s not all about this right now,’ so I had to calm myself down and listen to what coach Burrus was telling me to make my free throws.”
Neither team led by more than three points in the first half, which ended in a 14-14 tie.
Sailors outscored the entire Rochester team 7-3 in the third quarter, and North Miami led 24-17 going into the fourth.
“It’s always a tough deal when you can’t knock down shots,” Burrus said. “And you noticed that they just really started to sag the paint. … The defense led to our offense. We needed to speed up a little bit. … I told them at halftime … ‘You guys have got to shoot your way out of this.’”
Rochester 42, North Miami 41
ROCHESTER (42) (3-0)
Aubrey Wilson 4 9-14 15, Rylee Clevenger 3 4-4 12, Brailyn Hunter 1 2-2 5, Ella McCarter 1 2-2 5, Audrey Bolinger 0 1-2 1, Jayla Miller 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 9 18-24 42
NORTH MIAMI (41) (1-2)
Victoria Masters 0 0-0 0, Laney Musall 5 2-2 15, Brealyn Correll 0 2-2 2, Grace Sailors 3 3-4 9, Kayden Donaldson 4 3-4 11, Kiearra Springer 0 0-0 0, Porscha Pickett 1 0-0 2, Layla Hampton 1 0-0 2
TEAM: 14 10-12 41
Three-point field goals:
Rochester 6 (Wilson 2, Clevenger 2, Hunter, McCarter),
North Miami 3 (Musall 3)
Total fouls: Rochester 14, North Miami 15
Fouled out: Bolinger (RHS), 4:44, fourth
Turnovers: Rochester 8, North Miami 21
Score by quarters
Rochester 4 10 3 25 – 42
North Miami 7 7 10 17 – 41
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