No matter how much Livonia Churchill head girls basketball coach K’Len Morris prepped his team on what to expect in Tuesday’s game against Wayne Memorial, it paled in comparison to what actually happened on the court.
The visiting Zebras, led by the almost automatic three-point shooting of senior point guard Camree Clegg, pressured the Chargers into 31 turnovers and cruised to a 61-14 KLAA Black Division victory.
“We knew we would struggle a little bit with their athleticism and size, and it showed,” Morris said. “They turned the pressure up. We stayed with them the first 5-6 minutes of that game and Jarvis (Mitchell, Wayne head coach) kind of got to his starters and they turned the pressure up. We just didn’t take care of the ball.
“We told them yesterday in practice and today before the game, if we’re going to be able to compete with them we have to handle their press and we have to be strong with the ball. And we just weren’t.”
Mitchell, whose team improved to 8-3 overall and 7-0 in the division, said the Zebras did what they do best — play a fast, intense style of basketball.
“We play uptempo, what we try to do is make you play our style of basketball,” Mitchell said “Some nights we’re successful, some nights we’re not successful. But we come in with a game plan every night to hopefully make you play our style of basketball, what we’re used to.”
Churchill (6-5, 3-4) hung with the Zebras for much of the first quarter, trailing 6-4 following a baseline jumper by junior forward Mary-Claire Yost (six points) midway through the frame.
But Wayne switched to another gear at that point, going up 12-4 after one quarter and building a 24-4 advantage in the second quarter before the Chargers finally scored again (on a jumper by Yost).
The Zebras went up 33-10 at halftime and then completely blew out Churchill with a 21-0 third quarter. On the first handful of their possessions in the third, the Chargers coughed up the ball and Wayne took advantage with baskets.
Clegg had her three-point shot working, connecting four times from behind the arc and finishing with 22 points. She sat much of the first quarter and all of the fourth.
“When she gets going she’s our motor,” Mitchell said. “When she gets going that’s a pretty good indication we’re going to have a pretty good night.”
Chipping in with 10 points was junior forward Jayah Hicks, while junior guard Sammiyah Hoskin and sophomore guard Makailah Griggs Zeigler scored eight and seven points, respectively.
Following are several takeaways from the game:
BRIGHT SPOT
Although the final outcome wasn’t anything to shout home about, Morris praised the play of Yost, particularly during the first half.
“I thought Mary-Claire played phenomenal tonight,” Morris said. “Thank god for her because she had most of our points in the first half.
“She was one of the kids that just went at them, wasn’t afraid of getting her shot blocked or the physicality. And that first half was probably the best half she’s played since she’s been here.”
DRAWING BOARD
Morris also said sophomore guard Kayla Osen and junior guard Maria Targosz (three points, on a triple) had their moments. But the coach blamed himself for his top shooter (Targosz) not getting enough chances to take a crack at the Wayne basket.
“Maria had a couple shots I thought were going to go in, they just didn’t fall,” Morris noted. “But we got to get her going, she’s our best scorer overall. We got to get her more shots. That might be me, maybe I got to change some plays up or something.”
WHO NEEDS RANKINGS?
Mitchell shrugged off the fact the Zebras weren’t listed in the recent top-10 rankings, pointing to the strength of schedule for non-conference games.
“When you’re a top team and you only play against top talent and then you lose then you get knocked (down),” Mitchell stressed. “But I will never schedule teams (for non-conference games) I feel we can beat. I want a challenge every game. If that means being put out the top 100 I could care less.
“As long as my kids get better and we play against the best competition every night, that’s my only goal. Whether or not we’re ranked in the top 10, in a couple weeks everybody will be ranked zero and zero (when state playoffs start).”
MEASURING STICK
According to Morris, the season is far from over just because Tuesday's game was so one-sided.
“At this point of the season, this is the best record we’ve had since I’ve been here," Morris noted. "We’ve been playing good basketball. I told them today this was going to be a measuring stick for us to see how good can we really be. This is one of the best teams in the state, the most athletic team we’ll see all year.
“From here on out, everybody else in our division, you take Wayne out of the picture, everybody is right there. Anybody can win any given night.”
Contact Tim Smith:tsmith@hometownlife.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TimSmith_Sports.