Gordon Helps Deliver A Wake-Up Call To Generals


Wooster senior Sarah Gordon had come out a winner in all 45 of her previous Federal League games.

WOOSTER HIGH SCHOOL'S Lisa Steinmetz tries to avoid the ball as it goes out of bounds Monday night in the Generals' Federal league game against Alliance. Joel Troyer photo

To her way of thinking, that wasn't about to change Monday evening.

So, after the Alliance Aviators rattled off seven straight points to take a 24-20 lead with just under five minutes left in the third quarter, Gordon decided she'd seen enough.

''I have three regular season games left, three Federal League games left in my career, and I'm not planning on losing any of them,'' Gordon said of the sentiments she conveyed during a Wooster timeout. ''At that point, we just weren't playing as hard as we could play.

''Missed shots are missed shots, you're always going to have those. But if you're not making your shots, you can always play defense. There's no excuse for not doing that.''

''I didn't get a chance to say a whole lot,'' Wooster coach Mike Gallagher said. ''The bottom line was Alliance was playing better than us. They were beating us at both ends of the floor and if we didn't get it together they were going to beat us.

''We didn't do anything different (after that), we just did it harder.''

After a motivational speech that would've made Rick Pitino proud, Gordon went out and backed it up with a 3-point play and an assist to Kara Taylor, sparking a 12-4 run en route to a 32-28 lead after three quarters.

And, although Alliance trimmed Wooster's lead to 34-33 early in the final quarter, the wake-up call was exactly what the Generals needed, as they eventually pulled away for a 48-39 victory.

Gordon finished with 11 points, but it was super-sub Lael Hicks' 19 points that led the Generals. Hicks nailed a huge 3-pointer to make it 37-33 Wooster at the 6:30 mark of the final period, three of her 12 fourth-quarter points.

''Lael can shoot and in that offense we were in, we forced them to guard Sarah and she found Lael open,'' said Gallagher.

The win, Wooster's 18th without a loss this season, sealed yet another FL title for the Generals, the ninth such crown in the last 10 years. With wins in their two remaining regular season games the Generals have a chance to lock up their third straight 20-0 season, and sixth in Gallagher's tenure.

But, to get to 18-0 the Generals had to overcome some cold shooting, a week-long layoff, a missing starter and a determined Alliance squad.

First things first.

The Generals stumbled out of the gate in the first half, hitting on just 7-of-35 field goal attempts, including a rim-bending 1-of-16 in the second quarter. Wooster's only bucket of the period was a Gordon layin, which proved to be the difference in a 16-14 Wooster lead at half.

The poor shooting (Wooster finished 20-of-66) could possibly be attributed to the Generals' protracted layoff. Wooster's last game was Feb. 6, when it knocked off Alliance 62-33.

''We did play rusty,'' said Gallagher. ''It seemed like we were passing up open 15-footers to take 10-footers in traffic.

''Hopefully the two make-up games we have left will make a difference in that regard.''

In addition to the layoff, Wooster had to cope with the loss of its primary inside threat, 6-foot-1 senior Erin Iceman, who was attending an all-star volleyball tournament in Las Vegas.

Alliance's twin towers of Lorressa Williamson and Sinceray Myers, both 6-2, used Iceman's absence to their benefit, by combining for 33 points. Williamson led the Aviators with 19 points.

''Not having Ice shouldn't have made a difference,'' said Gallagher. ''We've got quality people. Even without her, we've got four quality posts. It just happened to be one of those games for all of them.''

Wooster's four interior players -- Heidi Fouts, Heather Fouts, Morgan Rafferty and Susan Iceman -- combined for four points.

The Aviators, though, had little offense after Williamson and Myers, and any run they attempted to make was often sabotaged by one of their 24 turnovers.

''Turnovers have been a problem for us all season,'' said Alliance coach Gary King, whose team finished up 12-8 overall and 8-4 in the loop. ''If you cough it up against a great team like Wooster, they're going to make you pay.

''We knew beating Wooster would take a monumental effort. I'm proud of the way we played tonight.''

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