Trojans Quell Jackson’s Energy, Cruise into District Title Game

Above: Allie Mayes and her Trojan teammates will square off against Holt at 7 p.m. Friday in a district championship game at East Lansing High School. (Photo by Jim Pivarnik)

With more than a week to prepare for its district opening game Wednesday evening, the East Lansing girls basketball team naturally needed a minute or two to find its rhythm against semifinal opponent Jackson.

Even on their home floor, the Trojans appeared at times to be dipping their toes in the water before diving in head first.

But once they did, Jackson’s dream of “shocking the world” came to a sudden halt.

East Lansing erased a 12-4 first quarter deficit with a 17-point run that carried over into the second quarter and helped establish a Trojan tempo that resulted in a 78-55 victory, the home team’s 19^th of the season against two losses.

Those victories aside, East Lansing head coach Rob Smith wants to make sure his team knows that nothing comes easy at this point in the season.

“Obviously, we have to improve our rebounding because we got out rebounded by 10 (44-34) again,” Smith said, “and that was the case against Heritage as well.

“Holt will also bring a lot of energy here Friday. They have a first-year coach (Cassie Kotlarczyk) and they’ll be excited to be here. I expect we’ll have a great crowd. They (Holt) have given some very good teams some very good games, and I expect they’ll throw their best at us.”

Smith went to his bench early against Jackson and rotated his lineup freely throughout the game in an effort to slow down the Vikings, who scored the game’s first eight points before Nye converted a rebound basket with 4:57 left in the first quarter.

“We figured that would happen, because they were very energized,” Smith said. “We heard them chanting before the game, and we knew they’d be pumped up and ready to go.”

Junior forward Kalaia Hampton, sophomore guard Bre’Naya Lane and freshman forward Corrine Jones were among the 11 players that Smith subbed in and out in order to contain Jackson’s momentum.

“We wanted to get everyone in the game early, and get them acclimated to tournament play,” Smith said. “To get them experience with a different vibe and a bit more pressure than they’re used to. It’s win or go home.”

“I thought both Hampton and Jones, who each had five points in the first half, were huge for us,” Smith said. “Bre’Naya Lane gave us 12 points and Soraya Timms (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) must be the mentally strongest freshman we’ve ever had. I’m just so proud of her and the job she’s doing right now.”

Nye connected on seven of 11 two-point field goals and three of seven attempts beyond the arc for her game-high total of 25 points in 20 minutes of play. View the box score from Wednesday’s game here.

“Very solid performance,” Smith said of his team’s leading scorer.

The winner of Friday’s game between East Lansing and Holt will advance to the regional semifinals Monday at Caledonia High School to face the winner of the district championship game between Coldwater (20-1) and Battle Creek Central (12-6). Game time for Monday’s first semifinal is slated for 5:30 p.m.