Defensive effort sparks Mohawks

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By John Bombatch, Staff Writer 12:59 AM Friday, December 30, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — Defensive performances don’t usually get noticed. That’s because, in most cases, there’s nothing to show for all that hard work in the scorebook.

Michelle Brunswick’s defensive effort sparked the Mohawks to a 61-38 win over Edgewood in the opening round of the 33rd Miami University Middletown Girls High School Holiday Basketball Tournament at the C. Eugene Bennett Center.

“Michelle, when she gets in there, she brings our defensive intensity up a lot,” said Madison’s Meghan Miller, who scored a game-high 23 points. “Sometimes we don’t start off very well, but she does a great job of bringing our intensity up.”

Edgewood coughed up 20 turnovers. Brunswick had six steals to lead the Mohawks.

“She does things that usually don’t show up in the newspaper,” Rossi said. “She goes 94 feet, 100 percent of the time for 32 minutes. I thought she did a great job in the third quarter especially. We finally got some separation then, and it was partially because of the energy level that Michelle brought to the court.”

Senior guard Amanda Hobbs led the Cougars (4-4) with 13 points.

Edgewood coach Greg Brown said the Mohawks simply outplayed his team.

“We didn’t play well. We just got outplayed by a better team,” he said.

The win sets up a rematch with crosstown foe Fenwick, which handed Cincinnati Western Hills a 41-25 loss in the second contest of the Large School Division. Last year Fenwick defeated Madison 64-51 in the MUM championship game.

After a slow first half, where they trailed 15-14 at the break, the Falcons outscored Western Hills 10-2 in the third quarter and pulled away for a 41-25 win.

Sophomore Jenni Rossi, the neice of Madison coach John Rossi, scored a career-high 19 points to lead Fenwick (4-5).

Maggie Pearce tossed in eight points and point guard Katie McCarthy — the first freshman to start varsity for coach Donn Burrows — was next with six points.

“My team helped me a lot. (Their effort) just made me want to play harder for them,” Rossi explained.

“Jenni Rossi has made quantum improvements in every practice and in every game,” Burrows said.

• Senior forward Brooke Lewis scored a game-high 18 points to lead Valley View to a 46-34 win over Landmark Christian in the first game of the day in the Small School Division.

Defending small-school champ Miami Valley bashed Preble Shawnee 55-27 in the second game. Shelby Carpenter led the Rams with 29 points. Sidney Brown paced the Arrows with 11 points in the loss.

Landmark Christian will play Preble Shawnee at 2 p.m. today in the small-school consolation match. Edgewood and Western Hills will play the big-school consolation at 3:45 p.m.

Valley View and Miami Valley will tip off for the small-school title game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Fenwick-Madison rematch at 7:15 p.m.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.

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