BASKETBALL: Stemmer's Record Setting Performance Propels Hornets to top of SEC Red

ANN ARBOR - You need your stars to shine in big games. In the biggest game of the regular season Saline's top star, senior captain Ella Stemmer, was a blinding supernova.

Stemmer scored a school-record 38 points, breaking her own record, as Saline beat Pioneer 44-40 to take a stranglehold on the race for SEC Red title.

"She's big time. That's all I've got to say," coach Leigh Ann Roehm said. "She owns all responsibility for the big games. She puts it squarely on her shoulders and she carries it beautifully."

Stemmer accounted all but one of Saline's field goals - the first of the game by Emily Wilczynski.

Monday's game between Saline (13-1 overall, 11-1 SEC Red) and Pioneer (10-2 overall, 10-2 in the SEC Red).

The Hornets were coming off their first loss of the season at Bedford. The Saline varsity girls basketball team had less than 48 hours to turn it around and get ready for Pioneer. The teams entered Monday's game tied atop the SEC Red at 10-1. The winner would have the inside track to an SEC Red title (although, Pioneer still has a very tough game against Bedford on its schedule).

That loss at Bedford stung the Hornets. And they did not want to experience that feeling again Monday at Pioneer.

"It was really devastating for us. That moment when (Bedford) were all cheering for one another and we were on the other end of it, it wasn't something I ever want to feel again," Stemmer said.

She made sure the Hornets didn't feel that way Monday.

"I'm just so proud of how we bounced back. We came out and we played so strong and we let (the Bedford game) fuel us for this game," Stemmer said.

Both teams struggled to put up points early. Pioneer opened the scoring with a three-point shot by Jackie Brines 3:45 into the contest. Saline got on the board when Sophie Canen (four points) made a free throw. Emily Wilczynski tied the game at three with a pull-up jumper with 3:25 to play in the quarter.

Saline struggled with Pioneer's rebounding at times. The Pioneers went up 6-3 on a putback by Kayla Colvington. Late in the first quarter, Stemmer started heating up. First she hit a jump shot to game Saline within one. Then She made a three-pointer from the corner with 27 seconds left to give Saline an 8-6 lead. Pioneer scored to tie the game just before the buzzer sounded to end the quarter.

In the second, Stemmer started by making two free throws. Then she fought through the paint for tough layup to make it 12-8, Saline.

Mya Hicks scored for the Pioneers. Stemmer replied with back-to-back threes. Saline led 18-10.

Alexis Clark put back an offensive rebound for a basket. Stemmer took a pass from Natalie Sweetland and scored to make the 20-12, Saline. Clark scored again for Pioneer late in the half.

Saline led 20-14 at halftime.

Stemmer opened the scoring in the third quarter, taking a nifty pass from her sister Kate and scoring from inside the paint. After three points from the Pioneers, Stemmer hit a three-pointer to make it 25-17 with 5:09 to play in the quarter. Covington scored for Pioneer and then Stemmer hit another three, making it 28-18.

Hicks hit a three-pointer to get Pioneer within six. Stemmer went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to give Saline a 30-22 lead, which they took into the fourth quarter.

Stemmer set the tempo to start the fourth, attacking the basket and taking the foul while making the shot. She made the free-throw to give Saline a 33-22 lead. 

Pioneer scored the next five points to close the gap, but Stemmer responded with a layup.

Clark and Stemmer traded two-for-twos from the free-throw line and Saline led 37-29 with 1:49 to play. Clark made two more free throws to make it six-point game. With 1:20 to play, Hicks hit a three-pointer to make it a three-point game.

Stemmer made two more free throws to make it 39-34, but Hicks replied with a basket. Saline led 39-36 with 51 seconds left.

Sophie Canen, who spent most of the game on the bench in foul trouble, was fouled and went 2-for-2 from the line to make it 41-35 with 47.5 seconds left. Lauren DeWolf got both of those back for Pioneer from the stripe with 28.4 seconds left. The Pioneers fouled Stemmer - and she made both shots to make it 43-38 with 18 seconds left.

DeWolf scored again to cut the lead to 43-30. Canen went 1-for-2 from the line with 3 seconds left to clinch it for Saline.

Coach Roehm said she was proud of the way the team responded to the loss at Bedford.

"It tells you a lot about a team the way they respond after a hard loss like we had at Bedford. It was essentially a back-to-back game," Roehm said.

The Hornets know that the win puts them in the driver's seat to win the SEC Red. Saline hosts Huron Thursday (1-10) and visits Skyline Saturday. A win against Huron clinches at least a tie for the SEC Red title.

It's believed the Saline girls' basketball team hasn't won a league title since 2000.

More News from Saline

• County Announces 4 Clean-up Days, All Require Registration Washtenaw County Water Resources Materials Management Division announced the 2024 County Clean-Up Day schedule.
• LAX: Nishioka Scores 5 as Saline Bests Dexter Maddie Nishioka scored five goals to lead Saline to a 9-4 victory over Dexter Monday night at Hornet Stadium.