It's the states of Ohio and Michigan. Both programs have storied traditions of championships and high profile talent. Both are regulars in the national rankings. Buckeyes and Wolverines? Not quite. It 's Detroit Country Day and Chaminade Julienne who got together in a matchup of ESPN Rise Fab 50 teams on the Eagle's home court on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets brought their No. 22 ranking and five Division I signees down I-75 Friday night and edged past Thurgood Marshall High School by four points before defeating Samarie Walker and her 25th ranked teammates 51-34 Saturday afternoon.
Detroit Country Day opened the second half in a 1-2-2 zone with 6-foot-7 Madison Williams, who was in foul trouble, protected in the back of it and the 5-11 Troy Hambric directing traffic at the top. Turnover's continued to haunt Chaminade Julienne as the third quarter got underway when they turned it over four times in the first 3:01 leading to a time out by Coach Marc Greenberg and a 31-23 lead by the visitors. The Eagles only turned it over once more in the quarter but the lid stayed on against the zone as they could manage only six points for the period versus 18 for the Yellow Jackets as they extended their lead to 40-27.
"With the zone we wanted to spread it out to keep Samarie from hurting us inside"
Detroit Country Day coach Frank Orlando said.
The fourth quarter saw much of the same for both teams and CJ cut the lead to nine at the 5:07 mark forcing Detroit Country Day to take a time out to regroup. The Eagles cold shooting returned and four more turnovers allowed the lead to stretch back out and the Yellow Jackets took home a 51-34 final margin.
"The turnovers came right when we got ourselves in a good position in the game,"
Chaminade Julienne coach Marc Greenberg said, "and then we shot ourselves in the foot."
Moore led the way for the victors with 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Taylor chipped in nine as did Dartmouth bound Faziah Steena while Hambric tallied 8. Walker posted 18 in the losing effort for the Eagles.
Right out of the gate it looked like the visitors from the north were in for a long day as 6-foot-7 junior standout Madison Williams picked up two quick fouls and headed to the bench with 5:20 remaining in the first quarter. Junior forward Troy Hambric followed suit with her second personal at the 2:31 mark while matched up with Chaminade Julienne's dynamic Walker. The Eagles, however, couldn't capitalize on their opponent's foul problems and despite five offensive rebounds to their credit, trailed 13 to 6 after one.
Williams returned to the lineup to start the second quarter but returned to bench with her third foul after just 53 seconds. While the Eagles continued to rack up the offensive rebounds they countered themselves with four turnovers in the stanza and trailed by as many as nine.
Poor shooting continued to keep Chaminade Julienne from capitalizing until Emily Michael's 3-pointer on Detroit Country Day's first possession against a 2-3 zone closed the gap to 19-17. Country Day remained in a zone for the final 3:47 of the quarter. After the Yellow Jackets extended the lead back to four, Nicky Disbrow responded with a 3-point bomb with under a minute to go cut the halftime margin to one.
"Coming into this trip we just wanted to enjoy the games and focus on how we play rather than outcome,"
Orlando said.
Walker led the way in the first half for the hosts posting 12 of her team's 21 points. Hambric led the visitors with six while Georgia Tech bound Sharena Taylor and Illinois commit Amber Moore had five apiece. Detroit Country Day still led by one despite shooting 7 for 25 from the field. Eight offensive boards gave the Eagles several second looks they very much needed but still indicated a cold half from the floor for them as well.
"We still have plenty of opportunities to step up against some very good teams on our schedule,"
Greenburg said.
