Local Sports: Jefferson girls basketball improves to 2-0

OTTAWA LAKE – Jefferson girls basketball coach Bryan Parran loves to win games.

But there is something even more special for him.

“When you see the smiles on the faces like we had last night, that’s what I coach for,” Parran said after his team beat Whiteford 40-27 Friday night to improve to 2-0.

There weren’t a lot of smiles for the Bears in recent years. They were 8-51 in Parran’s first three seasons there including 1-16 in last year.

The mood seems to be changing this season.

“Things are going well,” Parran said. “The kids are working extremely hard. I always thought the potential was there, but we are shooting the ball better than we have at any time in the last three seasons. I credit the kids. They have worked extremely hard and put a lot of time in.”

Reanne Roberts got Jefferson off to a good start Friday, scoring all 9 of her points in the first quarter.

“She puts a lot of pressure on the ball,” Parran said. “We put her on the point of our defense and gets a lot of deflections.”

Roberts also hit a key 3-pointer in the opening period that helped the Bears wipe out an early Whiteford lead.

Sydney Masserant sank three 3-pointers and finished with 12 points for Jefferson and Kirsten Vanisacker finished with 9 points.

It is the best start for the Bears since they won their first two games of the 2015-16 season.

Whiteford dipped to 0-2. Madelyn Thomas scored 10 points and Kinzie Kohler 8 for the Bobcats.

Jefferson ; 10 ; 7 ; 14 ; 9 ; - ; 40

Whiteford ; 8 ; 7 ; 9 ; 3 ; - ; 27

JEFFERSON: R. Roberts 4 (1) 0-0 9, Hintz 0 0-1 0, A. Roberts 3 (1) 1-1 8, Masserant 3 (3) 3-8 12, Vaniscaker 2 5-8 9, Brewer 0 0-2 0, Costas 0 2-3 2. Totals 12 (5) 11-23 40.

WHITEFORD: Thomas 4 (2) 0-3 10, VanBrandt 1 0-0 2, Schober 1 (1) 0-0 3, Bauman 0 0-3 0, Hillard 2 0-3 4, Kohler 3 2-4 8. Totals 11 (3) 2-13 27.

Summerfield 58, Hillsdale 23

PETERSBURG – Summerfield bounced back from a season-opening loss in dominant fashion.

Bulldogs' trio Abby Haller, Destanee Smith and Ava Fisher led the way. Haller had 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals, Smith had 11 points, 8 rebounds and 6 steals, and Fisher scored 15 points. Faith Secor also played well.

Summerfield led 40-13 at halftime and forced a running clock in the third quarter.

"I thought everyone played well tonight we were def way more aggressive on both ends of the floor," Summerfield coach Mickey Moody said. "Every player tonight played a 110 percent and it was fun to watch that effort."

Summerfield's defense forced 31 turnovers and stifled Hillsdale's offensive effort.

"We came out and played a very good man-to-man defense," Moody said. "... the girls' energy was unbelievable. They wanted to get that poor performance from Tuesday behind them and they did that. Our defense only allowed Hillsdale to shoot 24 times and our offense was executing very well. We just had a really good bounce-back game."

Hillsdale won the junior varsity game 41-29. Marissa Eastman led Summerfield with 14 points.

Summerfield ; 23 ; 17 ; 18 ; 0 ; - ; 58

Hillsdale ; 3 ; 10 ; 4 ; 6 ; - ; 23

SUMMERFIELD: A. Fisher 6 (3) 0-2 15, Gonzales 1 0-0 2, Secor 2 1-2 5, Smith 3 5-11 11, Haller 9 (3) 4-4 25. Totals 21 (6) 10-19 58.

HILLSDALE: Dietz 0 2-2 2, Arnold 2 0-1 4, Busenacht 1 2-3 4, Terpening 1 0-0 2, Vincent 3 1-4 7, Mueller 2 0-0 4. Totals 9 5-10 23.

Woodhaven 48, Flat Rock 28

FLAT ROCK – Flat Rock struggled to find its offensive rhythm.

The Rams had just two field goals in the first half. Woodhaven led 14-3 after the first quarter with the Rams scoring all of their points from the free-throw line. The Warriors took a 24-9 lead into the second half and outscored Flat Rock 21-4 in the third quarter.

"We had a difficult time handling their pressure," Flat Rock coach Brian Kryk said. "Those girls were everywhere and we had some instances where we didn't have anywhere to go. We need to be better prepared for pressure and that's on me. We'll learn from this game and improve."

Matajia Cerroni and Addison Kopp scored 9 points apiece to lead Flat Rock.

Woodhaven won the JV contest 30-26.

Woodhaven ; 14 ; 10 ; 21 ; 3 ; - ; 48

Flat Rock ; 3 ; 6 ; 4 ; 15 ; - ; 28

WOODHAVEN: Dobbs 3 3-7 12, Pappas 7 (4) 0-0 18, Henegar 0 1-2 1, Barnhart 1 (1) 0-0 3, Kaur 1 (1) 0-0 3, Anderson 5 3-3 13, Henegar 0 1-1 1. Totals 17 (6) 8-13 48.

FLAT ROCK: Goldobin 1 0-1 2, Geresy 1 (1) 0-0 3, Cerroni 2 5-8 9, Kopp 3 (1) 2-2 9, Mysliwiec 0 2-2 2, Knight 0 0-1 0, Somerset 1 1-1 3. Totals 8 (2) 10-15 28.

Howell 74, Erie Mason 47

HOWELL – Howell pulled away with a strong second half to deliver Erie Mason its first regular season loss since Feb. 25, 2020.

Mason trailed 28-24 at halftime, but Howell came out strong in the second half. The Highlanders outscored the Eagles 23-10 in the third quarter and 23-13 in the fourth.

Lizzie Liedel scored 23 points to last Mason and Monica DeGasto added 12.

The Eagles, who went 13-0 in the regular season to win the Tri-County Conference last season, dipped to 1-1.

"We did a great job of starting fast and held a lead at the end of the first quarter," Mason coach Josh Sweigert said. "The girls played tough and we were down 4 points going into halftime. Howell went on a run to start the third quarter. They shot very well from the floor in the second half.

"We played hard and I was proud of the way we competed. We learned a lot about ourselves and will use that information going forward."

Howell ; 9 ; 19 ; 23 ; 23 ; - ; 74

Mason ; 11 ; 13 ; 10 ; 13 ; - ; 47

HOWELL: Rayl 1 2-3 4, Daugard 7 (2) 2-2 19, Farr 4 (2) 0-0 10, Storm 2 2-2 6, Deurloo 5 1-1 11, St. John 8 (4) 2-2 22. Totals 27 (8) 9-10 74.

ERIE MASON: Wright 2 0-0 4, Stevens 0 0-1 0, Bash 0 2-5 2, Trainor 1 0-0 2, Liedel 9 (3) 2-4 23, Gallaher 1 0-0 2, Moore 0 1-2 1, DeGasto 4 (2) 2-4 12. Totals 17 (5) 7-16 47.

Bedford postponed

TEMPERANCE -- Bedford's game against Sylvania Northview Saturday was postponed.

The tentative makeup date is Dec. 13 at 1:30 p.m.

JV BASKETBALL

Huron drops opener

NEW BOSTON – Freshman Gabby Emelian scored 13 points, but New Boston Huron dropped its opener to Wyandotte Roosevelt.

JUNIOR HIGH BASKETBALL

Monroe falls

Tavin Parkhurst and DaWann Watkins played well for Monroe in a 20-12 loss to Chelsea.

Bedford sweeps

TEMPERANCE – Bedford swept Dexter with the seventh grade winning 19-15 and the eighth grade rolling to a 41-12 victory.

Evan Gartee, Keagon Dixon, Ismael Hakki and Payton Sheaves were the top scorers.

JUNIOR HIGH SWIMMING

Tunison leads Mason

WILLIS -- Jared Tunison won the individual medley and placed in the top three in four events to lead Erie Mason in its opener against in a 107-44 loss to Ypsilanti Lioncoln.

Zoie Stubleski and David Mills each made the top four in two events.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Local Sports: Jefferson girls basketball improves to 2-0