Girls basketball: Aggressive, balanced Sterling attack too much for Geneseo

STERLING – Setting the tone with aggressive play on both ends of the court, Sterling built an early lead Thursday night at Musgrove Fieldhouse.

And after answering a couple of Geneseo runs, the Golden Warriors snapped a 32-game Western Big 6 losing streak by topping the Maple Leafs 54-42.

Three Sterling players scored in double figures, five had at least five points, and the Warriors (5-4, 1-3 WB6) held a 31-22 edge in rebounds, a 13-6 advantage in assists, and a 14-5 margin in steals in a balanced victory.

“It was just teamwork, really. We got together as a team and brought all the energy we had,” junior forward Madison Austin said. “It really helps us a lot to stay aggressive. I think that’s the key to winning our games. That’s what we can bring, so we need to bring that every game.”

[ Photos of Sterling vs. Geneseo girls basketball ]

Delali Amankwa’s 3-pointer snapped a 6-6 tie with 3:08 left in the first quarter, then freshman Joslynn James, Amankwa and Austin scored to close out the period. Jae James’ baseline jumper less than two minutes into the second made it 22-11 Warriors.

Geneseo (4-4, 1-3) battled back, scoring the next nine points to get within 22-20 with 56 seconds left in the first half. But Joslynn James hit two free throws, then Amankwa took a kick-out pass from Olivia Melcher and knocked down a 3 at the halftime buzzer to stretch the lead back to 27-20 at the break.

“We shared the ball, and we’re a fast team, so everything’s at a fast pace, and that’s how we like to play. We all like to get after it and keep each other up,” Joslynn James said. “We like to say our defense goes into our offense, and that sets the tone.”

Geneseo’s Hanna Kreiner hit a 3 to start the third quarter, then two free throws and a driving layup by Addison Snodgrass answered baskets by Austin and Joslynn James to get the Maple Leafs within 33-27 with 2:38 left in the third.

But the Warriors scored the next 14 points over the final 2:26 of the third quarter and opening 2:20 of the fourth, and led by as many as 22 (50-28) on Austin’s three-point play on a pretty drive-and-dish from Jae James with 5:15 to play.

“It was kind of a game of runs. It was close in the beginning, then they went on a little run, and we came back into the half. I thought that shot at the halftime buzzer kind of took the air out,” Geneseo coach Scott Hardison said. “We came back and hit a 3 to start the second half to get it back to four, but they dominated the third quarter. We were very passive on both ends of the floor in the third quarter, and credit to them; their defense is relentless. They go hard, the Austin girl in the middle is a lot to handle, and they’re very well-coached. I have a ton of respect for Coach Jackson, and they play hard for her.”

The Leafs closed the game on a 14-4 run, forcing six of Sterling’s 14 turnovers down the stretch with their full-court press. But Austin scored inside and Taah Liberty drove to the basket to get a pair of buckets about a minute apart to keep Geneseo at arm’s length.

The Warriors had 17 second-chance points off of 16 offensive rebounds, and set the tone on the glass from the start: 11 of their 16 first-quarter points came after offensive rebounds.

“One of the biggest goals for our team are getting those second chances, and making sure we get the offensive rebounds,” Austin said. “That’s basically part of our game plan, is getting all the rebounds and making sure we own the boards.”

Austin had 17 points, nine rebounds and two steals, and Joslynn James stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Amankwa added 10 points and three steals, Jae James finished with seven points, four assists and two steals, and Melcher scored five points. Liberty chipped in five rebounds, two assists and two steals for Sterling.

Snodgrass led the Leafs with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Kreiner had 14 points and three rebounds. Mia Kelly added eight points, three steals and two assists.

“The Western Big 6 is a gauntlet every night, and you don’t get a night off. Nobody’s going to give us a break; we’ve won four conference titles in a row, and everybody’s ready to kick us – and we’ll take it, but we’re going to compete, we’re going to give you our best effort every night,” Hardison said. “What I asked our girls going into the fourth quarter was to compete, and I thought we competed to the end. We came back and made a little run at them; we’re not very deep, we’re not very big, but we’re going to play hard for 32 minutes every night.”