Mill River girls beat Cosmos, continue surge

The Mill River girls posted their fifth-consecutive victory on a frigid Friday but the 42-28 win over the Springfield Cosmos didn’t come easy.


www.rutlandherald.com    

Mill River girls beat Cosmos, continue surge Rutland Herald | February 11, 2017 By CHUCK CLARINO CORRESPONDENT Mill River’s Olivia McPhee (15) uses a screen by teammate Tessa Davenport to drives the lane during Friday’s game against Springfield in North Clarendon. PHOTO BY ALBERT J. MARRO Mill River’s Olivia McPhee (15) uses a screen by teammate Tessa Davenport to drives the lane during Friday’s game against Springfield in North Clarendon. PHOTO BY ALBERT J. MARRO NORTH CLARENDON – It’s been a streaky winter at Mill River. The boys basketball team is riding a 14-game win streak. But don’t sell the girls basketball team short. The Mill River girls posted their fifth-consecutive victory on a frigid Friday but, believe it or not, the 42-28 win over the Springfield Cosmos didn’t come easy. Mill River suffered through a first half or horrors and trailed the Cosmos by as much as 16-8. The Minutemen shot terribly, turned the ball over way too much and were getting beat on defense and on the boards. In effect, the young Cosmos, who start two freshmen and a sophomore, pretty much had their way through the first 16 minutes. Behind the sweet shooting of sophomore Hannah Crosby, the rebounding of Madee Stagner and the defense of Cassidy Otis and Halley Perham, the Cosmos led 14-8 after one period and 18-16 at the half. “I thought we were flat on defense; we allowed them to attack us off the dribble so went to a zone and packed it in a little,” Mill River coach Ken Webb said. “We forced them to shoot some shots outside and they weren’t able to get the looks that they did in the first half.” Once the Minutemen settled into the zone and began to pressure the Cosmos, things turned around in a hurry. Just into the second half, Mill River took its first lead on a 3 from the wing by Rylee Nichols. The teams swapped leads a couple of times before Mill River took command with an 8-0 run to close on the third period. McKenna Ludden’s 3 from the wing just into the final frame put an exclamation point on the run and eased the Minutemen lead to 32-24. Mill River cut down on its turnovers, while the Cosmos went the other way. Springfield committed 15 turnovers in the second half and 29 for the game, as opposed to 18 for Mill River. As the turnovers mounted for the Cosmos, the offense vanished. The Cosmos had a 24-21 lead at 2:49 of the third period, after Otis hit a baseline jumper. But did not score again until Crosby hit a runner at 4:41 of the fourth and scored just one more basket after that. “We had a lot of turnovers in the second half and that turned the tide,” Springfield coach Joseph Costello said. “I’m working with a young group, learning on the fly and composure is a things we can only get with experience. “We can’t simulate what Mill River presents to us in practice. They are one of the toughest teams in the state; they are in your face for 32 minutes … over the course of 32 minutes we had some breakdowns.” Still, Costello felt that if his club could have cleaned up the miscues and develop more confidence in the outside shooting and then look inside, it would have been a competitive game. Once the Minutemen secured the lead, they able to get comfortable and ice the win from the foul line. The Minutemen converted nine-straight foul shots from the third into the fourth and hit 8 of 10 in the final frame. “We were solid from the foul line,” Webb said. “You win or lose games from the foul line.” Nichols showed the way for Mill River with 12 points, with eight rebounds and four steals. Olivia McPhee chipped in eight points, with four steals, while Melissa Fay and Tessa Davenport contributed six points each. Fay added five steals. Crosby led the Cosmos and all scorers with 14 points, while Stagner and Otis hauled in six rebounds apiece. The Cosmos drop to 3-9 and are at Fair Haven Tuesday, while the Minutemen improve to 10-4 and are at Hartford Tuesday. The game was a “Coaches vs. Cancer game,” with T-shirt sales and 50-50 proceeds going to fight cancer.