FINDLAY – Coming off its first loss of the season Monday to Central Catholic, Ross’ girls basketball team was looking for a bounce-back effort Thursday night. Mission accomplished.
The Lady Giants shot well from long-distance and clamped down defensively late to pick up their second TRAC victory of the season, 49-36, over Findlay.
“They got it done tonight,” coach Juan Vela said of his team. “First quarter, we were tied, then we changed some things defensively, then I think our shooters got relaxed and started to hit some shots.”
Facing a much-taller team in Findlay, Ross entered the game, knowing it needed to have an outside shooting presence. Nearly half of the Lady Giants’ 19 field goals came from behind the arch. Once Ross found its shooting rhythm, lanes opened up inside.
“I knew they were going to go into a zone (defense),” Vela said. “I was hoping to hit some threes, and they stayed in the zone until we hit some threes, and then they got out of it. I knew with our quickness and ball moment, we could penetrate the lanes if they were playing man-to-man, that’s what happened.
“When we started getting more penetration, we started getting better looks and got to the free throw line,” he added. “Even though we didn’t make too many free throws, we had more scoring opportunities.”
Brooklyn Baptista led Ross with 14 points, including four from long-range. Olivia Baptista scored 12 while Jazmin Bulger added 10.
“Our guards did a good job at sharing the ball, penetrating and finding the open man,” Vela said.
Ross led 23-18 at halftime, but Findlay wasn’t going away. The Trojans’ Brittney Haas scored all 10 of her team’s points in the third quarter and had 16 entering the fourth quarter, at which point Ross led 36-28.
“That’s when we went into a box-and-1 and really shut down (Haas),” Vela said. “We held her scoreless in the fourth quarter and that’s what broke the game open.
“Our bench came in and we took turns guarding (Haas) so we had fresh bodies on her. It was a good team effort and a lot of people pitched in and helped get it done tonight.”
Ross improves to 4-1 overall on the season and will host Madison Comprehensive Monday night at 7:30.
Fremont Ross 49, Findlay 36
FREMONT ROSS (49)
Bulger 4 0-5 10; O. Baptista 5 0-0 12; Simms 1 1-4 5; B. Baptista 5 0-0 14; Overmyer 2 1-7 6; Nason 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 2-16 49.
3-pointers – Ross, 9 (B. Baptista 4; O. Baptista 2; Bulger 2; Overmyer 1).
Record – Ross, 4-1 overall, 2-1 TRAC