Cosmos hold on for 50-46 win over Yellow Jackets

Whenever the Springfield and Windsor girls basketball teams face off in the past couple of years, it has been a battle.
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http://eagletimes.villagesoup.com/p/cosmos-hold-on-for-50-46-win-over-yellow-jackets/1296807 Cosmos hold on for 50-46 win over Yellow Jackets By Anthony Labor Jr. | Jan 26, 2015 Share on print Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 0 Photo by: Anthony Labor Jr. Springfield's Lizzie Mackenzie (21) dribbles past Windsor's Ashleay Wilcox during Monday's game. Windsor Girls Basketball vs. Springfield 1/26/15 Windsor's Maddy Morse (33) is fouled as she goes up for a shot in between Springfield's Diamond Bruso, left, and Ari Rowe. Morse finished with a game-high 17 rebounds. (Photo by: Anthony Labor Jr) View More... WINDSOR — Whenever the Springfield and Windsor girls basketball teams face off in the past couple of years, it has been a battle. Monday night was no different, as the Cosmos held off a second-half surge from the Yellow Jackets to come away with a 50-46 victory. “We played really well in spots today,” said Springfield coach Joe Brown. “But you have to give Windsor credit, they just outhustled us. They just gave us everything tonight. “But this was a nice win for us,” he added. “There were some heads up plays from a bunch of our players tonight, which won us the game.” Springfield’s Chelsea McAllister finished the game with 28 points, including the team’s final five to seal the win. It was a tough loss for the Yellow Jackets, who have struggled in close games so far this season. Of their eight losses on the year, five have been by seven or fewer points. “We had our chances tonight to get ahead, but we missed them,” said Windsor coach Bruce Mackay. “We had some good looks and didn’t take advantage of them. We just have to find a way to get over that hump in these close games.” The Yellow Jackets trailed 29-21 at the half before making it a tight game by the end of the third quarter. The play went back and forth from there with the Cosmos holding off in the end. The comeback was due in large part to the rebounding of Maddie Morse and Anika Abrahamsen. Morse brought down 13 of her game-high 17 rebounds in the second half, while Abrahamsen tallied seven of her 13 rebounds in the final two quarters. She also added four blocks in the game. As a team, Windsor finished with 40 rebounds to Springfield’s 26. “They just killed us on the boards tonight,” said Brown. “We didn’t box out and they have some athletic, tall girls that got up and brought them down.” Neither team came out of the gate firing, as they struggled to control the ball with a number of errant passes. Springfield led 9-8 after the first behind seven points from McAllister. Both teams got in the groove in the second quarter, but it was Springfield junior Lizzie Mackenzie that found her touch in the second quarter. She tallied all 10 of her points in the frame to help the Cosmos jump out to the eight-point first half lead. “Lizzie really helped us get that lead,” said Brown. “That was a good quarter for her. I am proud of how she is getting into the flow of the game.” Windsor started to find its groove behind the strong rebounding of Morse and Abrahamsen in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets jumped out to an 11-3 run to start the quarter to knot the game up 32-32. Morse knocked down three points in the final minute of the quarter, while McAlllister hit five, including a 3-pointer with one second left to give the Cosmos a 38-35 lead going into the final frame. Neither team budged in the first four and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. With 2:34 to play, Windsor grabbed its first lead since the first quarter when Ashleay Wilcox (11 assists) hit two free throws to make it a 46-45 game. The Cosmos stepped up defensively from there and never allowed the Yellow Jackets to score again. McAllister finished the game with a basket and three free throws to seal the deal. The Yellow Jackets struggled all night from the free throw line, especially in the fourth quarter when they hit only 4 of 10 shots. They were 12 of 23 from the free throw line in the game. “We were right there, but didn’t hit our shots from the free throw line,” said Mackay. “We did a lot of good things to get back in the game, we were more patient in the offensive end. We hung in there, but we just have to find a way to finish. We have lost too many games like tonight this year.” The Yellow Jackets dropped to 6-8 on the season with the loss and will travel to Woodstock on Wednesday to try and get back in the win column. Springfield jumped to 9-6 with the victory and will look to make it two in a row when they host Fair Haven on Thursday. “We definitely have to get better than we played tonight,” said Brown. “Fair Haven is another good team, so we will get back to the drawing board on Wednesday and get ready.” Box Score Springfield (50) Chelsea McAllister 10 3-6 28, Lizzie Mackenzie 5 0-0 10, Nicole Patterson 1 1-2 4, Ari Rowe 1 1-4 3, Brooke Willey 1 1-2 3, Diamond Bruso 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 6-14 50. WINDSOR (46) Maddy Morse 5 5-9 15, Katey Comstock 4 0-0 9, Haley Wood 2 3-8 7, Ashleay Wilcox 1 3-4 5, Ashlee Bly 2 0-0 5, Anika Abrahamsen 1 1-2 3. Totals 15 12-23 46. Springfield 9 29 9 12--50 Windsor 8 13 14 11--46 3-point goals -- Springfield 4 (McAllister 3, Patterson 1), Windsor 2 (Comstock 1, Bly 1). Rebounds -- Springfield 26 (McAllister 5, Bruso 5), Windsor 40 (Morse 17). Assists -- Springfield 12 (McAllister 3, Patterson 3), Windsor 13 (Wilcox 11), Steals -- Springfield 15 (McAllister 6), Windsor 8 (Wood 3), Blocks -- Springfield 1 (McAllister 1), Windsor 6 (Abrahamsen 4). Records -- Springfield 9-6, Windsor 6-8.