Controlling the glass was the name of the game for the Millikan girls basketball team Tuesday afternoon when they visited Wilson.
With Siyanda Salter and Allison Crawford combining for 26 rebounds, the Rams followed the game plan as they defeated Wilson 44-42.
“We knew from the last game we played them, as long as we control the boards, we’d end up winning the game,” Millikan coach Lorene Morgan said. “I thought we were going to win by a little bit more, but it doesn’t matter if it were by one or more – it doesn’t matter to me.”
From her opening basket to put Millikan on the board first, Salter made her presence known as she scored 10 points in the first quarter as Millikan took a 14-11 lead.
Staying on the court was the biggest advantage Salter had as her and Crawford were more game ready from the first time the teams played.
“I felt good,” Salter said. “I definitely feel we were out of shape the first time, especially me. I personally was really out of shape, but all the running coach made us do helped and we came here and won.”
Wilson’s Sydney Ross kept the Bruins in the game as she scored five early points in the second quarter to give Wilson an 18-16 lead.
It wasn’t the best quarter offensively for both teams as the teams combined for 13 points and the Bruins held Millikan to four points as they took a 20-18 lead at halftime.
Ross gave the Bruins a 22-18 lead to start the third quarter as she scored a team-high 14 points.
Millikan had a response any time Wilson started to make a run including a three-point shot by Amy Walker that gave Millikan a 29-27 lead in the third quarter. Sierra Hill capped Millikan’s third quarter run with a jump shot to give the Rams a 33-27 lead heading into the final period.
Hill continued to keep the pressure on Wilson as her own 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter put Millikan up 40-30.
Wilson’s Hawkins and Jasmine Stone went on their own 4-0 run to cut Millikan’s lead to 40-34.
Trailing 44-39, Ross made things interesting when she hit a three with less than a minute left in the game.
After a foul, Hawkins got one last shot with time running out, but her three-point shot attempt hit the front of the rim as the Bruins comeback fell short.
“We didn’t execute our side,” Wilson coach Erin Carey said. “They wanted it more than we did.”
