MOOSEHEART - There was a moment early in the fourth quarter where the crowd assembled to watch Mooseheart's girls basketball team face Cornerstone Academy rose in unison and cheered loudly.
The reason was the final on-court moment for Red Ramblers seniors Jasmine Barnes, Adrianna Pinto and Susan Crow. The trio headed to the bench to receive hugs from teammates and handshakes from coach Bryan Miller.
The smiles continued through the rest of the contest, which finished as a 49-22 nonconference Mooseheart victory.
``I was really looking forward to coming out and winning on my Senior Night and we did that,`` Barnes said. ``I'm really happy we did that.`` Playing before a large crowd, the Ramblers (9-10) never let the Royals close in the game. The hosts led 13-2 after the first quarter, were ahead 17-9 at halftime and then blew the game wide open with a 20-2 disparity in the third quarter.
``Defensively, we picked up the pace tonight,`` Mooseheart coach Bryan Miller said. ``We played the passing lanes very well, which led to a lot of easy buckets. We took some chances and they paid off for us tonight.`` Barnes led Mooseheart with 18 points. Ruthfee Kollie added 12 points for the Ramblers.
The other Ramblers seniors played considerable minutes. Pinto scored 4 points and Crow added 2 points.
``It's going to be hard to fill those voids,`` Miller said. ``(Barnes and Pinto) are both great on-court leaders and all-around leaders and Susan Crow provides great off-court leadership. We'll miss them tremendously.`` Mooseheart's regular season ends on Friday and the postseason begins on Monday when the Red Ramblers play Aurora Central Catholic in the opening round of the ACC Regional. That leaves very little time left for this year's seniors to be teammates.
``I think that really hit home tonight, especially for us seniors,`` Barnes said. ``I've played basketball with most of these girls for eight or nine years now and now it's almost over.`` Bethany Miller scored 12 of Cornerstone's 22 points.
| GAME STATS |
Mooseheart: |
| Vasquez |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Barnes |
8 |
2 |
4 |
18 |
|
| Avila |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Mays |
3 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
|
| Pinto |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
| Abdulahi |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Kollie |
5 |
2 |
6 |
12 |
|
| Ellsworth |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
| Crow |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
| TOTALS |
22 |
5 |
13 |
49 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Cornerstone |
| Heinrich |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
| Truckenbrod |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
| Miller |
4 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
|
| Kusman |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
| Rasmussen |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Jenkins |
3 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
|
| Englert |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| TOTALS |
8 |
4 |
9 |
22 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Mooseheart |
13 |
4 |
20 |
12 |
49 |
| Cornerstone |
2 |
7 |
2 |
11 |
22 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| 3-point goals: Miller 1, Jenkins 1 |
| Fouled out: None |
|
Mooseheart recognized its girls basketball seniors prior to its Jan. 31 game against Cornerstone. The team's seniors this season were manager Rachelle Cross and players Susan Crow, Adrianna Pinto and Jasmine Barnes.
Mooseheart's girls basketball seniors: (from left) Adrianna Pinto, Jasmine Barnes, Susan Crow and manager Rachelle Cross.
Mooseheart junior Manseray Abdulahi passes in the Ramblers recent game with Cornerstone. Mooseheart heads to the playoffs on Feb. 5 when it plays Aurora Central Catholic in the opening round of the IHSA Class A Aurora Central Catholic Regional.
Mooseheart sophomore Basheeba Mays looks for an opening to the basket.
Mooseheart girls basketball coach Bryan Miller talks to his team during a timeout. Miller and the Ramblers hosted Senior Night on Jan. 31 and open their playoff quest on Feb. 5.
|
