DAYTON — Mere days after a season opening 61-54 loss in Logan, Carroll claimed its first girls high school basketball win of the season Tuesday night Nov. 28 in convincing fashion.
The Patriots defeated defending Metro Buckeye Conference champion Miami Valley, 61-9 on the Rams’ home floor.
Miami Valley (0-1) returns four players off last season’s 17-5 team. Gone are graduated seniors Tia Karras, Liz Bush and Alyssa Clements, a Rams trio that averaged 50.3 points per game last season.
Carroll (1-1) is in a similar situation. They’ve lost six seniors from last season’s 23-5 squad, including the Greater Catholic League Co-Ed’s leading scorer Amanda Schroeder. Those six Patriot seniors averaged 45.2 points per contest last season.
On Tuesday, the Carroll returners showed their experience. Seven players are back from last season’s team and they’re showing signs of possibly a bright future for Carroll basketball in the years ahead.
Sophomore Allie Stefanek led the way with a game-high 17 points. Fellow sophomore Emma Brennaman finished with nine points, freshman Ava Lickliter tossed in seven first-quarter points, while Marina Stevens, Julia Keller and Brianna Winslow scored six points apiece.
Keller and Stefanek led the Patriots with 14 and 12 points respectively in the Nov. 24 loss at Logan.
In all, 10 of the 12 Carroll players listed in the official scorebook scored at least two points in the win. Carroll coach Cecelia Grosselin used the game to rotate several Pats players onto the court.
“We’re pleased. We have a young team that’s still learning how to play together, and so our focus was on ‘Let’s do everything right. Let’s be fundamentally strong and play our game,’ ” Grosselin said. “We have two freshmen on the team, and we have a couple girls who are sick with the flu. So we have a lot of people learning the system. We brought up a couple junior varsity girls tonight to fill some gaps as well.”
Carroll rolled out to a 19-3 lead after one quarter of play. Stefanek drained a couple 3-pointers in the quarter, and Lickliter scored her seven points. The Patriots extended their lead to 34-5 at the break.
They were up 55-7 after the third quarter and limited Miami Valley to two points in the fourth.
Miami Valley’s points came from returning senior Taylor Felder (four), sophomore Kristi Campbell (three) and senior Meghan McDonough (two).
The Rams jump into Metro Buckeye Conference play for their next game. They will play at Legacy Christian Academy at 6:45 p.m. Thursday Nov. 30 in Xenia. The game is the home opener for Legacy Christian.
Carroll may have a bit of a test for its youthful squad on that same Thursday. The Patriots will host perennial Division I playoff contender Fairmont for a 7:30 p.m. game.
