By Bill Bray
OREGON – The showdown is set for Saturday when the Lady Giants invade the land of the Irish.
Fremont’s 65-41 victory coupled with Central Catholic’s 62-40 win over Whitmer, sets up the clash of the TRAC’s titans.
Oregon Clay had their only lead of this TRAC contest at 6-4 after the Lady Eagles seniors were given free shots to start the game. The honor was also given to Fremont’s Hannah Sheidler. After the brief Clay lead, the Lady Giants went on a 10-0 run that ended with an Abby Cahill three-pointer that made the first quarter score 20-8. Another 6-0 run to finish the quarter included two points by Carma Johnson and four points by Lyndi Wolf. Wolf’s final bucket gave Fremont a 26-10 lead to end the first quarter.
The Giants expanded their lead to 29-10 with Aleah “Ms. Automatic” Whaley’s fifth straight three over the last two games. Clay responded with two three-pointers of their own and with 6:42 left in the half Ross’ lead was 29-16. From that point, Janiah Holmes scored four points and Destiny Robinson along with Cahill had two points apiece as the Giants held a 37-18 lead at the break.
Johnson sank a shot from beyond the arc to start the third quarter, followed by a Holmes bucket, as the Fremont lead grew to 24 points at 42-18. Johnson led the Giants over the eight minutes of the third quarter with seven of her team’s 16 points. The quarter came to an end with Makenna Englund connecting from long range and Sheidler with a two as Ross had a 53-25 heading into the final quarter.
In the final quarter Mackenzie Smith, normally a junior varsity player, had two buckets for four points. With the ladies up 57-39, it was Whaley again as the senior drained two more ‘threes’ and ended the Ross scoring with two foul shots.
“We were a bit sloppy at times turning the ball over,” coach Juan Vela said. “But it is a road win and a TRAC win so we’ll take it.” When asked about Saturday’s upcoming game with the 19-1 Irish, Vela said “It will be a battle, but I like our chances as long as we play the way I know we can.”
The Lady Giants are 17-3 and 11-1 in the TRAC. Their one conference came to the Irish back in early December 59-45. “We are playing much better as a team now,” Vela added. The Lady Irish come in as the Conference leaders standing at 19-1 and 12-0. Each team has two players in the top seven in TRAC scoring. Ross’ Destiny Robinson averages 12.7 points per game and Janiah Holmes hits for 11.6 points per contest. The Irish’s Brinn Hunt and Brooklyn Vaughn are averaging 11.1 and 10.4 points per game respectively. Ross has three players in the top eight in rebounding. Holmes has 8.9 boards per game, Robinson has 6.2 and Johnson has a 5.2 average. Vaughn leads the conference with a 10.9 rebound average. Hunt grabs 5.2 boards per game.