FeedsPlymouth hoopsters split opening week
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Plymouth Lady Wildcat Jalesa Moise (23) breaks for the basket after stealing the ball from Adrian in last Tuesday’s win. Plymouth went on to lose to Mercy High School on Thursday.Oh to be young and wild. Or Wildcats rather.
Tuesday marked the opening of girls’ basketball season and, despite showing signs of youth and inexperience, the Plymouth Lady Wildcats trudged past Adrian, 48-40.
Easy layups were missed, free throws bounced harmlessly off the rim and turnovers weren’t uncommon as the Lady ‘Cats shook off the summer rust.
“I think they were still trying to work out a lot of kinks,” said Plymouth Coach Richelle Reilly. “Our youth, I think, shows up sometimes, too, like in the press break or we’re a little too quick. We have the skill to do it but putting knowledge and skill together is going to be what we keep working on every day.”
Things fell into place about midway through the third quarter when Plymouth went on a 12-2 run that sealed the fate of the Maples. The streak put Plymouth on top for good, 35-28, after sharing the lead for much of the first two periods and through the top of the third. A couple of sophomores—Kelsi Robinson and Jalesa Moise—led the way. They each scored five points.
Robinson led all scorers at the end with 21 points, including nine of the team’s 13 points in the final stanza. She also tossed in four triples and nabbed seven rebounds in the event.
This is the sophomore’s first season on varsity after a successful campaign on the junior varsity squad last year, according to Reilly.
“She provided a lot of scoring for us on the JV team last year,” Reilly said. “We have a lot of expectation and she has a lot of untapped potential. She gets better and better everyday and she’s super coachable and a hard worker and we’re excited.
“Tonight is a great start for her and I hope she can keep it going,” she added. “I’m hoping for consistency. I think that’s the hardest thing for a new varsity player when you go up against varsity competition every night; you have to keep coming back and playing as physical as you need to and to keep your mind mentally sharp.”
Robinson and Moise, who had five points off of two steals, aren’t the only 10th-graders on the team making contributions. Sophomore post player Shaakira Haywood added eight points in the outing and Megan Quinlan, a second-year varsity player, also made the roster.
Plymouth isn’t all young players. Reilly has some experience back on the team that includes seniors Val Klemmer, who scored eight against Adrian, Chrystien Guyton, Chelsey Quinlan, Amber Davis and juniors Megan Davis and Megan Mihelick.
“We’re playing some younger kids in combination with some seniors,” Reilly said. “Seniors Val Klemmer and Chelsea Quinlan played a great floor game and Chrystien Guyton did a nice job late in the fourth quarter of being physical underneath and helping us with some boards.”
Reilly admits that it is strange to not have certain players on the team. Janet Hanchett, Colleen Flaherty, Jeanine Moise and Kim Olech all graduated in June as part of the first-ever Senior Class at Plymouth High School. They were some of the original players that started with Reilly when the program began five years ago.
“It’s definitely strange without them,” she said. “We not only lost leadership but we lost two dominant post players. That makes a big difference. We went from a really inside oriented team to a perimeter oriented team.”
She added that players to step up include Haywood and Robinson and Jalesa Moise, who is still a sophomore but second-year varsity player. Megan Quinlan, sophomore, Megan Davis, a junior guard, are expected to come off the bench to contribute.
The Wildcats’ inexperience caught up with them when they faced a tough Farmington Hills Mercy on Thursday.
Costly turnovers down the stretch cost Plymouth in the 56-49 loss, according to Reilly.
Plymouth and Mercy traded quarters in the first half. Plymouth outscored the Marlins 14-12 in the first. Mercy returned the favor in the second, outscoring the Wildcats, 13-11, to knot the score at 25 through 16 minutes.
Plymouth came out firing and knocked down 18 points for a four-point lead, 43-39, after three quarters. Turnovers got the best of the Wildcats in the fourth, leading Mercy to a 17-6 quarter and the win.
“I thought we played hard but our inexperience showed, making costly turnovers down the stretch,” Reilly said. “The game went back and forth. We were up by two, which, in basketball, might as well be a tie. But we were up by two and I thought that was a good position to be in against a team like Mercy. You can’t turn the ball over as many times as we did against team like that.”
Robinson led Plymouth with 15. Haywood added 14 and snagged nine rebounds.
Plymouth is back in action at 7 p.m. today at Southgate Anderson.
