54° and Cloudy
Image
2-10-2021 3:14am
BASKETBALL: Stemmer Drops 31 As Saline Girls Defeat Monroe to Open The Season
It's been 11 months a day since the Saline varsity girls basketball team last competed. The calendar has changed. Some of the stars of last year's team have graduated, replaced by young, up-and-coming stars. The team sat on chairs, set six feet apart, and the girls played for the first time while wearing masks.
But for all the changes, one thing remained the same: These Hornets play winning basketball.
Saline opened the season at home with a 66-27 victory over Monroe.
Ella Stemmer opened the season the way you might expect from one of the program's all-time greats. She scored 31 points and had seven rebounds, four steals and four assists. Junior Sophie Canen, in her third year on varsity, also managed 15 points, two rebounds, two steals and two blocks despite watching a majority of the game from the bench in foul trouble.
The Hornets were excited to be back on the court again. Two weeks ago, the team wasn't sure if or when the season might start. Until Monday, the team was required to social distance while practicing.
"The adrenaline was pumping. Before the game, it was so surreal. We just scrimmage for the first time yesterday - and even that felt like a first game," Stemmer said. "Everyone was so energetic and excited for the opportunity."
Roehm said she felt an "overwhelming sensation of gratitude" before the game as she scanned the gym and looked at her players in their uniforms as they took the floor together.
"I was just like, wow. For so long we didn't know if it was going to happen. We played a game today. I just have such a feeling of gratitude," Roehm said.
That positive energy and some good ball movement propelled Saline to a 15-1 early lead.
The scoring started with Ella Stemmer coming up with a steal and scoring for a 2-0 lead.
Monroe got on the board with a free-throw and then Saline went on a 13 point-run.
Stemmer hit a three-pointer from the corner. Nicole Sweetland (3 points, seven rebounds, two steals) followed with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Stemmer then hit two free throws (she was 8-for-9 from the stripe) to make it 10-1. Stemmer drained another three-pointer from the corner to make it 13-1. Saline came up with another steal and Beth Ann Ford hit a short shot to make it 15-1 just 4:12 into the game.
"We found some wide-open people against their zone and then our press really did a job. We ended up getting a bunch of loose balls on hustle plays, which propelled us to some easy buckets," coach Roehm said of the team's early run.
But Monroe pushed back with a 10-point run to finish the quarter.
"We didn't close out hard with our hands up and left a couple of their shooters open. They made a couple of threes and they got a little hope," Roehm said.
In the second quarter, Stemmer righted the ship. She drove the lane and scored while drawing the foul - and then made the shot.
Then the Lehigh University commit hit back-to-back threes.
The Saline senior had 19 points four minutes into the second quarter as Saline led 24-11. Stemmer credited the hot start to shaking off early-game nerves and good ball movement from her team.
"It took a couple shots to get started because of nerves, coming off a long break and it's the first game of a new season," Stemmer said. "But that was just the open spot the defense gave us. So all credit to my teammates for finding the open spot. If they covered the corner, we got the ball to the post."
Stemmer was speaking modestly. But she was on fire and she wanted the ball. Which is what coach Roehm loves to see.
"She's incredible. She's another coach on the floor. She wants it and she owns the pressure. She owns the big shot. When the going gets tough she wants the ball," Roehm said. "It's because of all the time, work and preparation she's done to get her to the place where she knows she has the confidence and skill to do it."
Senior co-captain Emily Wilczynski hit a three from the top of the circle to cap the run. Saline led 27-11. After a Monroe basket, the Hornets went right back to work. Reggie Duerst went 1-for-2 from the line and then Brielle Eugeni stepped around a Trojan before draining a jump shot.
Ford made another basket and then Stemmer scored three more from the stripe. Saline finished the first half with a steal and then pass by Ella Stemmer to her younger sister Kate, who made the layup for her first high school basket.
Saline led 37-14 at halftime.
The second half began with Sophie Canen making a layup. Ella Stemmer and Eugeni each hit three-pointers to make it 45-17. Later in the quarter, Stemmer hit two free throws and then put back a rebound. Saline led 49-27.
The Hornets continued the onslaught in the fourth quarter.
Ford got things started by taking a pass from Ella Dean and scoring from inside the paint. Stemmer followed with a basket.
The rest of the way it was the Sophie Canen show. She scored 13 of her 15 points in the final 4:29 of the fourth quarter. She started with a basket and free throw. Then she hit a three-pointer from in front of the Saline bench.
She hit two more two-point shots before capping the scoring with another three.
Canen had missed all but 70 seconds of the first half after two early fouls and then took her third foul midway through the third quarter. Once she got back in the game, she showed what she could do.
"Our team is going to look a lot different with Sophie on the floor. She really busted out when she got consistent minutes," Roehm.
Roehm was also pleased by the job Ford, a sophomore in her second year on varsity, did in the paint.
"She looked so calm, she went after loose balls, she made a few buckets around the rim. I loved seeing the confidence exude from her. I thought she played tremendous," Roehm said.
Roehm said there's a lot of untapped scoring on this team. Some of that could soon come from Kate Stemmer, the freshman who made her varsity debut. Roehm was pleased with the way Stemmer played Monroe's Ellie Sieler - one of the Trojans' top players.
"When Kate Stemmer was guarding Ellie Sieler, I think maybe she scored one bucket, and she's a good player. Kate is an elite defender. And you're going to see she's also an elite shooter, and so those shots are going to fall for her," Roehm said.
Kate Stemmer had four steals to go with her two points.
Eugeni finished with five points, one rebound and one assist. Wilczynski scored three points and had two rebounds and two assists. Ella Dean had two steals and an assist. Taylor Kangas had a rebound and one steal. Duerst scored a point.
More News from Saline
- Navy Veteran John Newman Worked for the City of Ann Arbor for 40 Years John Frederick Newman passed away peacefully on Friday April 12, 2024 with family by his side.
- SOFTBALL: Saline Routes Skyline, 15-1 Unbeaten Saline picked up another SEC Red victory, routing Skyline, 15-1, in Ann Arbor Monday.
