White Thoughts-Girls Basketball

Written Monday January 13th, at 7:40 AM

The White in Girls Basketball is interesting to say the least. Five teams have less than two losses and there will be separation in the league by the end of the week.

Oxford received some devastating news as junior star forward Jessica Murphy is out two to six weeks with a broken left hand she suffered in the game against Rochester. Murphy averaged 19.6 points per game. the Wildcats will be forced to rely on Grace Wysocki who had 13 points against Bloomfield Hills, Christina Mecidi, Skye Donaldson, and Cheryl Bandis to carry them until Murphy gets back. The schedule does not get any easier to say the least, they host Adams on Tuesday, go to Lake Orion on Thursday, at Farmington on Tuesday, and then next Friday they host Troy. That's a brutal stretch.

Bloomfield Hills might not be so mighty after all despite Shannon Wilson scoring 30 points against a depleted Oxford team on Friday. The Blackhawks did lose to Rochester Adams and Troy in the season but they do have a win over Lake Orion on the road. Bloomfield Hills looks like if Wilson and her supporting cast does well then they win if they don't then they struggle. The Blackhawks still have Lake Orion, Oxford, and Troy at home but they do travel to Adams which is not going to be an easy trip at all.

Rochester Adams got a huge break in the Troy game on Friday night when Nicole Niemic's shot fell in late in a 45-43 overtime home victory with Raiven Owusu scoring 15 points and Amber Jamison's seven rebounds in that game. The Highlanders are unbeaten so far and will play a depleted Oxford team on Tuesday then have the Crosstown Showdown with Rochester at Oakland on Friday which should be a win there but the game that could give Adams trouble is the Lake Orion game because two seasons ago, it was the Dragons that knocked the Highlanders from the ranks of the unbeaten on their home floor.

Farmington got themselves a huge 51-42 win over Groves thanks to senior forward Mariah Peruah's 23 points. The Falcons got two early wins in the season but have struggled lately in league play and overall and sit at 3-6 with early season wins over Saint Catherine of Sienna Academy and Walled Lake Central. Mya Douse did not play in the Groves game due to an knee injury that has been bothering her. If Peruah keeps playing the way she is right now then Farmington will be fine down the stretch toward postseason play.

Troy suffered a tough 45-43 overtime loss to Rochester Adams on Friday but will have a chance to get back on the floor as they will host Rochester on Monday night. The Colts are still going to be a force to be a recon with in the second half of the season with senior forwards Rachel Zelmanski and Sydney Heath and their pressure defense. The schedule is interesting for Troy as they will have the Highlanders and Lake Orion coming to Troy but have to go to Oxford and Bloomfield Hills later in the season.

Groves has been struggling badly but did get some good news as shooting guard Brianna Rowe returned for the Farmington game after missing a few games with an injury. She had 15 points in a 51-42 loss to Farmington. The Falcons have been struggling to score and also defend. Also they have to go through the second time around and still haven't played Lake Orion yet.

Rochester has lost three straight games (West Bloomfield 50-29, Oxford 42-38, and Lake Orion 54-41) since the huge 39-31 win over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in the semifinals of the Holiday Classic. Rochester sophomore forward DeAvery Jackson has led the Falcons charge until the West Bloomfield game where she struggled before being benched in the Oxford game. Jackson played OK in the Lake Orion game on Friday night. Rochester's top guns Alex Haupt and Ivy Schultz struggled in the Lake Orion game scoring but the Falcons will face the Dragons again in Rochester. The schedule does not get any easier for the Falcons as they travel to Troy on Monday and play Adams in the Crosstown Showdown at Oakland on Friday. The Falcons could be staring at 3-7 by the end of the week.

Lake Orion has been under the radar lately at 5-3. The Dragons have been quietly improving especially in point production but the third quarter has been a problem for them lately. In their three losses the third quarter has been their doom. Lake Orion was outscored 18-13 in the third quarter against Rochester and allowed 20 points against Bloomfield Hills and Troy in that stretch as well. The Dragons will host Troy Athens on Monday and then host Oxford on Thursday then they will go to Adams on Tuesday and then to Bloomfield Hills next Friday. They still haven't played Groves yet this season but that will change.

We'll see what happens folks.