Fleming passes 1,500 point mark; Hurons top Posen for fifth straight win
Rogers City wins its fifth game in a row with late run against Posen Huron center Ashley Fleming has won a lot of battles under the basket during her four-year career. That’s why she is the only player to reach 1,500 points at RCHS, which she accomplished in a win at Alcona last Thursday. Fleming, who got hot in the fourth quarter against Posen Tuesday with three consecutive field goals, had 26 points in the Hurons’ 11th win of the season, 51-39, on Parents Night in Rogers City.
Rogers City has three losses and is 6-3 in the Straits Area Conference. “She out-rebounded us,” said Posen coach Tom Schellie. “I don’t know how many putbacks she had from missed shots from Rogers City players. She got inside position on us and we fouled her. We weren’t getting good position on her and she was doing a nice job on the boards.” It just wasn’t the Ashley Fleming Show, though. Her teammates stepped up with key baskets from outside. Sara Dove drained a three-pointer with seconds left in the third quarter, which provided a lift for the Hurons going into the final stanza, and Megan Hanson played strong from the field to finish with 10. “I think we are starting to shoot the ball better as a team,” said coach Karl Grambau. “We missed a lot in that first half, but I think as a team, we believe we all can score. Everybody needs to chip in with a basket or two.” Posen (10-5, 8-2), which took the lead in the contest, 22-21 early in the third quarter from a jumper by Roxann Hincka, struggled from the free throw line in the first half and ended the night three-for-14. Schellie believes it was his squad’s downfall.
“I THINK MAYBE we could have had a five or six point lead at halftime if we would have made our free throws,” said Schellie. “I think we missed eight free throws in the first half.” Both teams came out firing to open the contest, with the Hurons winning the first quarter, 14-11. That was followed by a quarter dominated by defense. There were long dry spells of a minute between baskets. The Viking “D” kept Rogers City in check for more nearly four minutes midway through the second quarter. A Whitney Meeder bucket and a three pointer by Katie Lewandowski trimmed the Huron lead to 17-16, until Fleming had a patented putback off a miss for a three-point lead. The score at halftime was 21-18, Rogers City. “I think we played pretty equal in the first half, accept for the free throws,” said Schellie.
FOLLOWING HINCKA’S jumper, which gave the Vikes their only lead of the second half, the Hurons’ Becky Bruning hit a shot to give Rogers City the lead for good. The three-pointer by Dove gave the Hurons a seven-point advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Bruning and Meeder traded baskets as the final quarter started, but that’s when Fleming, a shoe-in for All-State, fired off three consecutive field goals. Hanson and Bruning added to a 12-2 fourth quarter run. That proved too much to overcome for Posen. “We had a nice run,” said Grambau. “Posen has a great team. It was a hard fought ball game. We put it together in the fourth quarter and that’s what we’ve been doing the last few games. Against St. Ignace, we were tied in the fourth quarter and we won that one. It was pretty close against Alcona but we won that one.” Grambau praised the exceptional effort of Dove, who played solid defense from the opening tip until the buzzer sounded.
“IT’S TEAM defense, but I’ll tell you what, you have to give Sara Dove an A+ for today,” said Grambau. It’s the Hurons’ fourth win in a row, with a chance to make it five tonight at home against Rudyard.
For Posen, it was the third time this season the Vikings were denied a chance to match their se
THE POSEN JV (10-5, 6-3) made it a season sweep over the Huron JV (5-8, 3-6), 46-42, in the early contest Tuesday. Jenny Ciarkowski paced the Posen attack with a game-high 19 points, while Kori Latz had 10. Jenny Fleming had 14 points to lead Rogers City and Heather Kowalski had 11. The JV Vikings stifled Arenac with their second-highest scoring output of the season in a 62-12 victory. The Posen defense allowed no points in the first or third quarters. Every player scored in the game, which is the third time this season that has happened. The Rogers City JV fell to Alcona, 40-31, despite 13 from Jenny Fleming and eight from Kowalski.