Page 9 - SFM Jan 2020 copy.indd

leader Ubly (14-1) and also picked up a
23-point win over Croswell-Lexington
(10-7) in their first game of calendar
year 2020.
Two weeks later, Caro beat the Rock-
ets 46-37.
“Before Reese, I just told them the
pressure was still on Reese. They’re
the 12-time defending league champs,
and we don’t have anything to lose,”
said Riley, who served as the junior
varsity coach for five years before
taking over the program prior to 2016-
17. “That’s kinda been our chip on our
shoulder all year. The girls came up
with the slogan at the beginning of the
year of ‘Respect all. Fear none.’ And
that’s the mindset they’ve taken.”
Freshman Adelyn Moore is a player
area teams likely will fear for the
next three years. She’s Caro’s lead-
ing scorer (17 ppg), rebounder (10.6)
and also averages the most steals
(5.6) for a defensive effort giving up 34 far-fetched.
points per game.
Arebalo adds 14.6 points and 7.4 re-
bounds game, and Ball has sharpened
her shooting this winter and is averag-
ing 8.4 points per game. Hornbacher,
KELKLEYL@LSYP@OSRPTOSRFTINSEFISNTEMSTAMGAAZGINAEZI.NCOEM.COM989859454057305735 SSPPOORRTTSSFIFNINEESSTTMMAAGGAAZZININEE.C.COOMM FEFEBB 22002200 SSPPOORRTTSSFIFNINEESSTTMMAAGGAAZZININEE• 9
last year’s leading scorer, made a
decision this season to become more
of a distributor instead – and while
she’s down a few points to 6.4 ppg,
she’s grabbing 8.2 rebounds per game
at 5-foot-6 and dishing a team high 4.4
assists per contest.
That defensive average is a definite
difference this season – and has been
one of Riley’s points of emphasis from
the start. But just as impressive are
the 54 points Caro is scoring on aver-
age – up from the low 30s of the last
few winters.
Riley multiple times Monday threw
complete credit to his players, who
have bought into the heightened de-
fense and cultivated the offense it
has produced. Combine those improve-
ments with strong senior leadership
and a freshman standout, and ending
the title drought hasn’t seemed at all
“It was just going to be how we
blended together,” he said. “I wasn’t
sure necessarily how that would take
off. But the seniors have mentored the
other players, and those other players
have had some pivotal roles for us.”