Big runs, late composure send Sterling past Hononegah

STERLING – Two big runs helped Sterling build a big lead, then it held off a late Hononegah charge in a 49-42 victory at the Sterling Shootout on Saturday afternoon at Musgrove Fieldhouse.

Sterling (10-1) took control of a back-and-forth game with a 15-1 run over the final 4:33 of the first half and opening 1:19 of the second half, using its defense to make the Indians (9-3) uncomfortable. Jossy James and Delali Amankwa hit pull-up jumpers, then Amankwa added a layup off her own steal before Alivia Gibson hit a 3-pointer on the final possession of the first half.

Madison Austin scored in the post to start the second half, then James scored on a putback for a 28-16 lead.

[ Photos from Sterling vs. Hononegah girls basketball ]

“Our defense was our big key there. We put pressure on them and then turned that into offense,” James said, as Sterling nabbed 13 steals and forced 21 Hononegah turnovers.

“We really just trust each other in our abilities, both outside the lane and in the lane,” Austin added. “It’s just being confident, making good passes, and getting good pressure on defense.”

Austin was forced to sit for the final seven minutes of the second quarter with three fouls, but the ISU-bound center made a big impact upon her return after halftime. She had three-point plays from offensive rebounds on back-to-back possessions, then added another putback to give the Warriors a 38-23 lead with 2:07 left in the third.

“I was very ready to get back out there,” Austin said. “I was very rested, but I knew my team could handle the first half without me, so it was nice to be able to come back in and help them in the second half.”

“It gives us a lot of confidence having her inside,” James added. “We don’t want to rely on it too much, but as long as she’s there, she gets the rebound, gets a putback, and that’s always good for our offense.”

James hit a 3-pointer and a free throw to end the third, then splashed another 3 to put Sterling up 45-24 with 6:50 remaining.

But Hononegah rallied. Ainsley Hughes hit a 3, then Jordan Dimke stole the inbounds pass for a layup. A 3 and a driving layup by Dimke and another 3 and subsequent steal and layup by Hughes then cut the deficit to 47-39 with 2:40 to play. Kylie Simpson’s 3 a minute later made it 47-42.

“We turned our full-court pressure up a little bit more,” Hononegah coach Jason Brunke said. “It’s been a while; we’ve dialed it back a little bit recently just to kind of try to lock in a little bit more with our group. Maybe should’ve gone to it a little bit earlier, but obviously, it was good to put it back on them, maybe catch them off-guard a little bit and take a little bit of pressure off us on the offensive side.”

But Sterling kept its composure. After a timeout to calm things down, the Warriors ran a minute off the clock before James was fouled with 42.1 seconds left; she hit both free throws to extend the lead back to seven, then the Warriors defense kept Hononegah from scoring again.

“We kind of just talked about focusing on ourselves, not focusing on what they were doing,” Austin said about the timeout huddle. “We just had to trust each other on both ends of the court, and focus on who we were guarding on defense.”

“I thought it was good to settle down at the end,” James said. “We handled their pressure pretty well, and we knew we just had to bounce back and play our game at the end.”

Austin had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, and James stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, five assists, five steals, two rebounds and a blocked shot. Amankwa added nine points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists, and Nia Harris chipped in four points and four rebounds for Sterling.

Dimke led the Indians with 16 points, nine rebounds and two assists, and Hughes finished with 13 points and two steals. Natalie Harris had five points, six rebounds and three steals, Simpson hit a pair of 3s and nabbed a pair of steals, and Carly Koch added team highs of five assists and four steals.

“We’ve got some very tough-minded kids, and I was glad to see their response,” Brunke said. “I’m not surprised by it, but I was glad to see it against a really, really good Sterling team.

“Everybody contributing, that’s the way we have to win. That’s what we have to do: when it matters, you need everybody to be there.”