Rose Hill girls overwhelm Andover Central to stay unbeaten

The Rose Hill girls basketball team had proved itself superior to the the competition it had faced to begin the season.

On Tuesday night, the Rockets proved their mettle as a serious contender in Class 4A-Div. I by defeating Andover Central 64-49 to improve its record to 10-0.

Andover Central entered having played mostly 5A competition with seven wins already. But on Tuesday, the Jaguars (7-3) were overwhelmed by the Rose Hill trio of Mackenzie Herman (21 points), Anna Van Driel (14) and Kylie Woods (15), the Rockets’ top three scorers who combined for 50 of their 64 points in victory.

“Our kids have great belief in themselves,” Rose Hill coach Greg Welch said. “We feel like we have a chance to compete with anybody on our schedule if we come ready to play, 3A, 4A, 5A, it doesn’t matter. If we come ready, we’ll have a chance to beat anybody.”

The double-digit victory was actually a back-and-forth affair for most of the first 16 minutes, as the two teams traded runs to take the lead.

Andover Central led 18-13 after the first quarter quarter, but Rose Hill seized control in the final four minutes of the second quarter by outscoring Andover Central 15-8 to take a 33-26 halftime advantage that was never threatened in the second half.

The third quarter featured some of the best sharpshooting of the season from Rose Hill, as it hit three three-pointers in the final 90 seconds with Herman, Kayna Simoneau and Sarah Sissel connecting from beyond the arc to deliver a devastating 13-2 run to end the quarter and extend its lead to 57-36.

“A lot of people were saying how Andover Central was a tough team, but our coach said we’re a tough team too,” Herman said. “This was a big win for us because they are a bigger school and they have played some bigger teams.”

For Herman, a senior, 21 points was a season-high and it was the first time leading her team in scoring.

Welch said she thrived in Tuesday’s game because it was so free-flowing, which suited her style.

“She’s just so aggressive all the time,” Welch said. “You have to have somebody who is willing to just put their head down and be aggressive and go attack. Sometimes girls sit back on their heels a little bit, but Mackenzie was feeling it tonight. Sometimes we just let her go play.”

Rose Hill was also able to silence Andover Central’s leading scorer Ryann Stearns, who entered the game averaging 20.2 points and finished with three.

Stearns was Rose Hill’s defensive focus to begin the game, as Welch devised a box-and-one scheme with Hahlee Mundy dedicated to trailing Stearns wherever she went. The scheme succeeded, as it held Stearns without a point through the first three quarters.

“We just wanted to make it tough on her,” Welch said. “She’s averaging 20 and we wanted to limit her touches and limit her shots and make some of those other kids try and beat us.”

Jewell Bolden was one of lone bright spots for Andover Central, as the senior finished with her fourth straight double-digit game with a season-high 22 points to lead the Jaguars. No one else scored more than six points for Andover Central.

This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Rose Hill girls overwhelm Andover Central to stay unbeaten."