Strong Defense Not Enough to Overcome Turnovers

The Milan Big Reds girls’ varsity basketball team could not get past its 34 turnovers Thursday night, falling to the Flat Rock Rams 45-32 at home. Flat Rock pressed all the way down the court, causing Milan distress the entire night.

“When they remove the panic, they actually do pretty good.  When they know what spots on the floor to be, they can break the press,” said head coach Jeff Scott.  “And then they have to learn when they do break the press, not to go all crazy down [on the offensive end].”

The game started off with Milan clawing out of a double digit deficit.  The last three came on a buzzer beater by senior Sarah Ramsey, a shot from well behind the arc that brought the score to 20-17. 

The second half started off with strong defense on both ends, but Flat Rock slowly pulled away. Junior Corinna Schneider fouled out early, and Big Red shots could not seem to find the bottom of the net. 

“Scoring four points in one quarter and three points in another just isn’t going to get it done,” said Scott. “We want to feed the ball to Corinna Schneider or Jaylynn Smiley in the middle and we can’t even get the ball to them.”

Ramsey led the Big Reds with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Schneider had six points to go with nine rebounds and three steals.

Scott said the team needs to be more confident and a bit tougher.

“They’re six inches from being a good team; it’s what I tell them,” said Scott.  “That six inches is between their ears. Once they get that down…”

Milan fell to 2-12 overall and 0-10 in the Huron League.