December 19 vs. Spring Woods:

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the gym, the Tigers of Spring Woods were definitely stirring. Their coach in particular appeared ramped up to play holiday-spoiler for the Spartans. They brought some serious noise and hunger to a 3:15 pm Tuesday game. The Spartans, however, came out unperturbed. Junior guard Aria Taylor hit Freshman guard Tess Stephenson, who found Junior forward Kendall Davis with a bounce pass down low to start off the scoring. Stephenson's defense on the other end helped Ashby secure a steal, and Stephenson was rewarded for the effort on the offensive with an assist from Ashby. Senior guard Emma Adisa forced another steal, and it was 6-0 and all looked right in Whoville. Senior forward Kendall Zoboroski corralled an offensive rebound and scored. A little later, Davis and Ashby ran the pick and roll, but Davis was covered on the roll, so Ashby drove down the left side of the lane for a score, and it was 10-4. And then the Grinch made an appearance in the form of missed layups, turnovers, and defensive lapses by the Spartans. It was shocking to see all the presents might disappear from under the tree after the Spartans trailed by one at the end of the first quarter.

How were the Spartans, clearly the more talented team, going to turn it around? The Grinch's heart was not about to grow three sizes that day. Stephenson snared an offensive rebound and followed with the assist to Junior forward Gretchen Loveless, who dropped in a six-footer from the baseline to make it 13-12. Enter Junior guard Meghan Hallmark, whose surname is synonymous with feel-good stories. Hallmark drove to the basket and passed to Ashby for a short jump shot to make it 15-14. The Tigers would not score another point in the quarter. Stephenson grabbed another offensive rebound and scored while being fouled, converting a three-point play from the charity stripe. Ashby had a terrific steal and inexplicably missed the layup. She followed with another steal and appeared to give up on even trying layups as she pulled up for a 13-footer that was nothing but net. Davis drove into the lane, spun right with footwork that would make her younger sister, a gymnast, quite proud, and scored. That put the Spartans up 22-14. Hallmark sparked a fast-break and converted the layup. Hallmark forced a steal and scored again on a layup. Another Hallmark steal and fast-break ensued, and while the Spartans did not convert, they did keep the ball away from Spring Woods for valuable seconds, and the half ended 27-14.

Davis started the third quarter with a move in the paint that started to look like an improbable hook shot before she was fouled, resulting in one made free throw. Zoboroski appeared out of nowhere like a seraph on a Tigers out-of-bounds play with an interception and score. Ashby to Stephenson to Ashby, which is its own form of holiday music, resulted in a trey and a 36-15 score. Stephenson ended the third quarter splitting the defense for a drive-and-bucket to make it 40-18. After the Spartans' Hallmark moment, they outscored the Tigers 27-6.

Stephenson had a layup off the assist from Ashby. Taylor stayed on the gas with an aggressive drive up the court and dished to Adisa to make it 44-18. The Tigers stole the ball, but Taylor stole it back and scored. Senior forward Ella Pezzia found herself doubled and in trouble down low before smartly making a scoop-pass to Junior forward Bella Perroni, who streaked by and scored, was fouled, and made her free throw. Senior center Evyn Stallwitz set a screen for Ashby, who drove the lane and dropped in an underhanded score from the middle of the paint, and the final was 51-25.

Ashby finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and four steals. Stephenson also had 11 points plus eight rebounds. Davis had eight points and six rebounds. Hallmark had four points, six rebounds, and a magical moment to help the Spartans enter the holiday break at 11-8 overall, 3-1 in District.

December 29th vs. Fort Bend Marshall:

Nearly a month ago, on December 2nd, the Stratford Girls Basketball Team defeated Fort Bend Marshall by 20 points in the Memorial Holiday Classic. On Friday, December 29th the Spartans traveled to the Buffalo's home court for an early afternoon game. The Spartans were trampled in the first quarter, 0-11. When the Spartans have struggled this year, it has often been due to three factors: turnovers, missing easy baskets, and lack of size in the post. These Buffaloes, so far from Yellowstone National Park, were not particularly imposing. Freshman JV guard Riley O'Connor, who knows a little bit about scoring after dropping 30 in a game earlier this year, when asked what happened, rightly observed, "Their shots aren't falling. And there are turnovers."

Freshman guard Tess Stephenson provided a spark early in the second quarter when she drove the basket, shot, missed, corralled the rebound, and went back up for the shot and was fouled. She converted both free throws. On the next offensive series, Junior forward Kendall Davis received the ball in the paint, faked right, spun left, and nailed the basket from five feet. Davis followed with another aggressive offensive move. She received the ball near the foul line, drove hard, and pushed herself up over the defense for another bucket, and it was 6-12. Junior point guard Rachel Ashby joined the scoring party when she took the ball coast-to-coast and converted a lefty lay-up. But turnovers and subsequent Buffalo fast-breaks threatened the new momentum. Ashby thankfully derailed several of those fast-break scores by playing in-your-face-but-don't-foul defense. Stephenson lit the spark, Davis and Ashby got things smoking, and finally it was Senior forward Ella Pezzia who lit the dang fire. She entered the game with a determined game-face and immediately was a force on defense, coming up with rebounds and knocking away passes. While the Spartan offense was still on a slow burn, Pezzia's fire on the defense helped hold the Buffs to seven second-quarter points. Ashby to Stephenson for a three-pointer from the left wing saw the Spartans respond with 12 points in the quarter, and it was 12-18 at the half.

Ashby came out in command of the offense in the third quarter and the ball movement was keeping Buffalo defenders on their hooves..err..heels, culminating in Ashby to Stephenson to Davis for a sweet open layup. There was back-and-forth before Davis rebounded her missed shot and spied Stephenson for a six-foot jumper. At the 2:45 mark, Stephenson received a pass from Ashby near the block and used her body to box out the defender and handily score. Stephenson spread the wealth when she drove the baseline under the basket and found Pezzia on the right wing for a short jumper. Pezzia's contributions spread like a conflagration on the offensive end as she snared a rebound and hit Senior guard Emma Adisa behind the arc for a three. Time was winding down in the quarter. Stephenson took the ball out under the Spartans' basket and the out-of-bounds play ran to perfection as she found a cutting Adisa for a layup. The Spartans had taken the lead, 25-24. Ashby kept command when the Spartans got the ball back with about 15 seconds remaining. She set up the offense from the left side of the backcourt, hit Adisa on the right side, retrieved the ball,  and drove down the left side of the lane, laying in a scoop shot under the outstretched arms of a defender just in time for the buzzer to sound, and it was 27-24.

It was quite the turnaround from the first quarter, but it was still just a three-point lead. Ashby grabbed a rebound on defense and took it slowly up the court, relishing the change in circumstances, before finding Stephenson on the wing for a trey. It wasn't long before Ashby went back to the well and found Stephenson in the same area, albeit a few feet further from the basket. Stephenson launched a Caitlin Clark-esque shot that was nothing-but-net and it was 33-25. Senior forward Kendall Zoboroski can do it all; shoot, score, handle the ball, defend, and rebound. Her shot was not falling in the first half, but she became an inferno the remainder of the game. Ashby had found the Buffs' weak spot, and Zoboroski was the next recipient on the left side. She drove the baseline and hit a pull-up jumper. Then she forced a turnover on defense. Ashby AGAIN passed left, and Zoboroski drained a three. Exasperated parents of the opponent were loudly annoyed. Zoboroski made another turnover happen. Stephenson ended up with the ball on the elbow and spotted Zoboroski slashing to the basket for a score. Zoboroski again snared an errant pass and drove the court, was fouled, made one free throw, and it was 41-27. Ashby slowed the offense down and time ticked off the clock. Senior center Evyn Stallwitz scored off the assist from Adisa. Junior guard Ella O'Connor ignited a fast-break and found Zoboroski, once again going to the open spot, and the Spartans were up by 18. The final was 45-32.

Stephenson had 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Zoboroski had 10 points and seven rebounds. Davis had six points and five rebounds. Ashby had four points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Pezzia had nine rebounds. The Spartans move to 12-8 on the season. Their next game is Friday, January 5th at Cy Ridge.

January 5th @ Cy Ridge:

The Spartans travelled to Cy Ridge on Friday, June 5th to face the Rams, who were sitting at 11-11, 2-2 in District. Scoring was a challenge on this night. The Spartans got really good looks at the basket, with Junior point guard Rachel Ashby finding her teammates in excellent positions. The shots were just not falling. The good news was that the Spartans' defense made it difficult for the Rams to even get good looks, much less score. Senior point guard Emma Adisa was on defense when she met her opponent near the half-court line. She forced a bad pass, and teammates Ashby and freshman guard Tess Stephenson converged like predators onto the ill-prepared recipient. Adisa grabbed the loose ball and fed a dashing Stephenson for a layup and the game's first bucket. Adisa later hit Stephenson on a 20-foot pass across the lane, and Stephenson knifed through the defense, drawing the foul,  and converting both free throws. Senior forward Kendall Zoboroski passed to Stephenson on the opposite side, and Stephenson zigged right, zagged left, and dropped in a bank shot to make it 6-0. Adisa bounce-passed to Davis on the right elbow, who spun left, and used her awesome footwork to split the defenders and drive for a layup. With 44 seconds remaining in the quarter, Ashby started high, tested the defense, and easily blew past her defender to lay in the basket, and it was 8-2. With 4.9 seconds remaining, Adisa forced a deflection and the Spartans got the ball out of bounds. Ashby on the out-of-bounds hit Stephenson on the move, who then pulled up behind the three-point line and let fly. The ball dropped cleanly through the net, leaving no time for the Rams to respond. Spartans led 13-2.

Adisa lobbed to Davis, who controlled the tipped pass and continued her offensive move, making the put-in in one deft move. Another dry spell ensued despite good shots. Stephenson scored midway through the quarter off the offensive rebound. The Rams finally started making a few baskets. Head Coach Audrisa Harrison took a timeout. This gave the Rams so much confidence they came out in a press. Ashby made them pay by easily getting the ball down the court. The end result was another Stephenson score off the offensive rebound, and it was 20-11 with 59 seconds to go. Stephenson blocked a shot down low. Davis grabbed the ball and found Stephenson, who took one dribble and let fly a pass to Zoboroski, who caught the ball on the left side, 16 feet from the basket. She drove and converted. On the other end, Davis grabbed another defensive rebound, hit her outlet, and raced down the court. Davis was rewarded with a pass from Adisa as she headed to the basket, converting another layup right before the half ended. The Spartans scored on their last three possessions to close strong. Ashby throughout the first half made life hell on Cy Ridge players trying to bring the ball up the floor.

In the third quarter, Zoboroski grabbed a defensive rebound and made a heady outlet to Stephenson, who spied Davis outracing the defense. She hit Davis in stride, who took one dribble and went up before being fouled hard. She converted both from the charity stripe. Ashby forced a steal, then attacked downcourt. She drove inside, hit Zoboroski outside, and Zoboroski found Stephenson alone at the top of the key for string music. It was 29-14 at the five-minute mark. Two minutes passed before once again Zoboroski hit Stephenson for a bucket. It became a scoring drought. What didn't show in the stats was the constant defensive presence of Ashby, Davis, and Stephenson as well as their screens and ball movement on the other end that kept the team comfortably ahead. Junior forward Bella Perroni attempted the last shot and was blocked, but Stephenson grabbed the loose ball and lofted it from behind the basket, falling out of bounds, and it went through the net as the horn sounded. Larry Bird would have been proud.

The fourth quarter got a tad sloppy. Stephenson scored on a baseline jumper off the pass from Ashby. Another drought. Ashby made some sublime passes that weren't converted. The Spartans throughout the game hardly give up any second-chance shots to the opposition, and that was big when their own scoring was not quite what it could have been. The defense continued to hold and at 2:30 remaining, Coach Harrison sat Ashby after Stephenson came out a bit earlier. Hallmark grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast, laying in a basket. Adisa intercepted an errant pass and knocked in a jumper. The game soon ended with the final 44-27.

Stephenson was off the charts. The freshman scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds in three and a half quarters. Davis had eight points and eight rebounds. Ashby had five steals and great floor leadership. The Spartans move to 13-8, 4-1 in District. They are in a tie for first with Memorial and Cy Fair. Their next game will be vs. Memorial in Don Coleman Coliseum at 6:30 pm on Tuesday.