Brighton Livingston Christian at Morrice – – Girls Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – February 13, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

In one of my You Tube Videos, I tell the watchers that you never know where the Red River Valley will lead you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03AhhNk1M8 (This video takes Red River Valley through an assortment of piano playing styles.)

Unfortunately, the Red River Valley does not lead to Morrice High School, but fortunately, Lansing Road does, so your Bleacher Denizen is here to watch as the Orioles from Morrice High host the Falcons from Brighton Livingston Christian.

Livingston Christian enters tonight’s game with a 7-9 record. Falcon Coach Bill Neathamer gave me this information about some of his top players. Amelia Slater runs the point for the Falcons. She is a superior perimeter defender who handles the ball and runs the Falcon offense well. Allie Johnson is a fine scorer, defender and rebounder in the post. Audrey Johnson is a versatile scorer who is a threat slashing to the basket or shooting from the three point line.

The Morrice Orioles enter the game with a 13-3 record. Coach Doug Doerner provided me with this information about his Oriole players.

Aubrey Rogers is a junior starting her third year on the Varsity. She is an excellent all around player who is tall enough to defend and compete for rebounds inside and quick enough to defend the perimeter as well. On offense, she is an excellent dribbler who can get to the basket to score. She can also score from the three point line.

Makenzie Doerner runs the point much of the time. She is a fine ball handler and passer; she can also make shots from the three point line. Lily Nowak is quick, quick, quick and able to steal the ball away from any opponent at any time with her aggressive defense. Kaylee McGowan defends, rebounds and scores well in the post. Alexa Rose is a good athlete who contributes post defense and rebounding to the Orioles.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the blurry lenses of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play basketball in the days of yore. Alas, your Bleacher Denizen never was able to learn that even though his employer at the local bakery loved it when he made turnovers, unfortunately, the Basketball Coach altogether frowned on them!! The mind boggles!!!

Morrice wins the opening tap. Aubrey Rogers passes to Makenzie Doerner, who hits a threeball from the corner to give the Orioles the first three points of the game. Lily Nowak steals the ball for the Orioles. Morrice misses a fast break layup. Aubrey Rogers pulls down the offensive rebound for the Orioles and passes to Alexa Rose, who hits a six foot shot from the side to give her Orioles a 5-0 lead.

Alexa Rose steals the ball for Morrice. The Orioles miss a layup. Alexa Rose snags the offensive rebound for Morrice. The Orioles miss a layup. Christian misses a jump shot. Allie Johnson hits a putback to give the Falcons their first two points. Morrice misses a ten foot shot from the side. Kaylee McGowan grabs the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a shot. Aubrey Rogers steals the ball for the Orioles. Aubrey Rogers throws in a threeball near the top of the key to give the Orioles an 8-2 lead.

Christian misses a threeball from the wing. Morrice misses a five foot banked shot. Christian misses a layup. Makenzie Doerner passes to Aubrey Rogers, who hits a three point shot from the side for Morrice. Kaylee McGowan knocks the ball away from Christian and Aubrey Rogers picks it up for Morrice. Morrice misfires on a triple try from the wing. Aubrey Rogers snares the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Kaylee McGowan gets the offensive rebound for Morrice. Allie Johnson steals the ball for Christian. Audrey Johnson hits a ten foot shot from the side to trim the Morrice lead to 11-4.

Morrice misses a three point shot from the wing. Kaylee McGowan grabs the offensive rebound for the Orioles. On a missed Morrice jump shot, the ball gets wedged between the backboard and the basket. Your Bleacher Denizen, despite being dressed in a suit and tie (from filming a couple videos earlier this afternoon), is eager to show off his leaping ability and pull the stuck ball back to earth. But will they ask MEEEE? Of course not. Someone uses another ball to knock the stuck one down. Alas, your Bleacher Denizen merely wanted to help. (Sniff.)

The Possession Arrow ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s feelings of uselessness and awards the ball to the Falcons. Morrice ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s feelings of uselessness and locks down on defense. Christian is unable to advance the ball over midcourt in the required ten seconds and they turn the ball over. Morrice misses a three pointer from the side. Aubrey Rogers grabs the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a three point shot from the wing. Aubrey Rogers steals the ball for Morrice and hits a fast break layup to boost the Orioles to a 13-4 lead.

Aubrey Rogers steals the ball for the Orioles. Morrice misses a sixteen foot shot from the wing. Aubrey Johnson hits a fast break layup for Christian. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw to cut the Morrice lead to 13-7 with 2:20 to play in the first quarter.

Morrice commits an offensive foul. Christian throws a pass out of bounds. Morrice misfires on a threeball from the top of the key. Makenzie Doerner gets the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a layup. Lily Nowak gets the offensive rebound for Morrice and passes to Aubrey Rogers, who hits an eight footer from the side. Lily Nowak steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give the Orioles a 17-7 lead.

Christian loses the ball out of bounds against the Morrice press. Morrice misses a three point attempt from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Christian takes possession. Aubrey Rogers knocks a Falcon pass out of bounds. Christian retains possession. Christian misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Morrice misses a layup. Kaylee McGowan hits a putback to give the Orioles a 19-7 lead.

Kaylee McGowan knocks the ball away from Christian and Makenzie Doerner grabs it for Morrice. Morrice over throws its outlet pass on a too fast break and it goes out of bounds. Christian takes possession. Christian misses a layup. Gloryanna Williams gets the offensive rebound for the Falcons, but there is no time to shoot before the first quarter buzzer announces its presence.

After one quarter, Morrice holds a 19-7 lead.

During the quarter break, the Morrice Pep Band plays a few bars of Chicago’s 25 or 6 to 4. They jammed well!

Morrice has the ball to begin the second quarter. The Orioles misfire on a triple try from the side. Christian reciprocates and misfires on a triple try from the side. Amelia Slater pulls down the offensive rebound for the Falcons. Amelia Slater hits a three point shot for the Falcons to shave the Morrice lead to 19-10.

Morrice misses a twelve foot shot from the side of the lane. Christian throws a pass out of bounds. Morrice misses a layup. Christian misses a three point shot from the side. Amelia Slater steals an Oriole pass. Audrey Johnson hits a jump shot from the free throw elbow to trim the Morrice lead to 19-12.

Morrice misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. Aubrey Rogers throws a beautiful outlet pass to Kaylee McGowan, who hits a fast break layup for Morrice. Kaylee McGowan knocks a Falcon pass out of bounds; Christian gets the ball back. Christian misses a threeball from the wing. Morrice reciprocates and misses a threeball from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice gets another opportunity. The Orioles miss a jump shot. Amelia Slater passes to Allie Johnson, who hits a three point shot from the side to cut the Morrice lead to 21-15.

Aubrey Rogers drives and hits a layup for Morrice. Christian misses a layup. Morrice misses a layup. Allie Johnson hits a layup for the Falcons. Morrice misses a three point shot from the side. Christian misses a fast break six foot hook shot. Audrey Johnson steals the ball for the Falcons. Christian misses an eight foot shot in the lane. Aubrey Rogers passes to Kaylee McGowan, who hits a layup for the Orioles. She is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 2:31 remaining in the first half, Morrice has a 25-17 lead.

Christian commits an offensive foul. Morrice misses a three point attempt from the wing, but gets the offensive rebound. Morrice commits an over and back violation. Christian misses a fifteen foot shot from the wing. Allie Johnson hits a putback for the Falcons. Kaylee McGowan is fouled and hits two free throws to give Morrice a 27-19 lead with 1:35 remaining in the half.

Amelia Slater passes to Allie Johnson, who hits a long two point shot from the side for the Falcons. Alexa Rose saves a loose ball to prevent a Morrice turnover. Audrey Johnson steals the ball for the Falcons. Lily Nowak gets back quickly and knocks the ball away from a Falcon dribbler to prevent a fast break layup. Christian retains possession. Olivia Byers passes to Audrey Johnson, who hits a three point shot from the side to cut the Morrice lead to 27-24.

Morrice misses a layup. Aubrey Rogers’ intense defense forces a Falcon double dribble violation. Morrice misses a threeball from the side. Alexa Rose grabs the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a layup as the halftime buzzer blares.

At halftime, Morrice holds a 27-24 lead. (Livingston Christian outscored Morrice 17-8 in the second quarter.)

Allie Johnson has 11 points to lead Livingston Christian at halftime and Audrey Johnson has 10 points.

Aubrey Rogers has 12 points for Morrice and Kaylee McGowan has 11.

The Morrice Pep Band plays during halftime. They did a fine job on “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond and a number of other tunes.

For those of us who can’t hear this fine band at halftime, here’s my acoustic version of an old Christian hymn from my You Tube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dJt6E-siOg

Livingston Christian inbounds the ball to get the third quarter underway. Allie Johnson passes to Paige Green, who banks in a three point shot from the top of the key for the Falcons to tie the game. Morrice misses a threeball from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Christian takes possession. Aubrey Rogers steals the ball and hits a layup to give Morrice a two point lead. Audrey Johnson hits a ten foot shot off the dribble from the baseline for Christian to tie the game at 29-29.

Morrice misses a sixteen foot shot from the wing. Makenzie Doerner pulls down the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a six foot shot from the baseline. Audrey Johnson is fouled on an eight foot jump shot and hits two free throws to boost Christian to a 31-29 lead with 6:22 remaining in quarter number three.

Morrice misses a three pointer from the wing. Christian misses a layup. Gloryanna Williams steals an Oriole pass. Christian misses a three point shot from the corner. A Morrice fast break outlet pass is thrown too long and out of bounds. Christian misses an eight foot shot from the side. Gloryanna Williams gets the offensive rebound for the Falcons. Lily Nowak steals a Falcon pass. Aubrey Rogers passes to an Oriole teammate who is fouled on a six foot shot from the side, but misses both her free throws. With 4:40 remaining in the third quarter, the Falcon lead remains at 31-29.

Kaylee McGowan steals the ball for Morrice. The Orioles misfire on a triple try from the side. Lily Nowak steals the ball for Morrice. The Orioles miss a fast break layup. The Falcons miss a fast break layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Morrice takes possession.

The Orioles miss a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Christian takes possession. Christian misses a three pointer from the wing. Gloryanna Williams pulls down the offensive rebound for the Falcons. Lily Nowak knocks the ball out of bounds; Christian retains possession. Christian misses a three point shot from the side. Makenzie Doerner tosses a long pass to Aubrey Rogers, who hits an eight foot shot from the side for Morrice to tie the game at 31-31.

Christian commits an offensive foul. The Orioles miss a threeball from the side. Makenzie Doerner gets the offensive rebound for Morrice. Morrice misses a layup. Kaylee McGowan grabs the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a layup. Christian misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Aubrey Rogers passes to Kaylee McGowan, who relays the ball to Alexa Rose, who hits a layup to give Morrice a 33-31 lead.

Lily Novak knocks the ball away from Christian and Alexa Rose picks the ball up for Morrice. Aubrey Rogers hits a jumper off the dribble from the free throw line to boost Morrice to a 35-31 lead.

Aubrey Rogers gets her hand on the ball and a Falcon dribbler loses the ball out of bounds. Morrice throws a pass out of bounds. Christian misses a three point shot from the top of the key. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow consults its Board of Directors and decides to award the ball to Christian. The Falcons miss a three point shot from the corner. Morrice has no time to shoot before the third quarter buzzer blares.

After there quarters, Morrice has a 35-31 lead.

Morrice inbounds the ball to begin the fourth quarter. Allie Johnson steals the ball for the Falcons. Lily Nowak ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow and the Board of Directors were engaged in a weighty discussion and missed the play. The ball is awarded to Christian. Lily Nowak knocks the ball away from the Falcons and Maisie Campbell picks it up for the Orioles. Morrice misses a fast break layup. Paige Green hits a layup for Christian; she is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 7:14 remaining in the contest, Morrice has a 35-33 lead.

Morrice misses a three pointer from the side. Amelia Slater is fouled on an eight foot shot from the baseline and hits one of her two free throws for Christian to cut the Oriole lead to 35-34 with 6:56 to play.

Kaylee McGowan passes to Aubrey Rogers, who hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline for Morrice to open up a three point lead. Christian misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. Morrice misses a six footer from the side. Audrey Johnson is fouled on a fast break layup and hits one of her two free throws for the Falcons. With 6:01 left in the game, Morrice has a 37-35 lead.

The rebound from the missed free throw goes out of bounds and Morrice takes possession. Allie Johnson blocks a Morrice three pointer from the side; the loose ball goes out of bounds and the Orioles get it back. Morrice misses a three pointer from the side. Alexa Rose pulls down the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misfires on a threeball from the side and fouls on the rebound.

Christian misses a fast break layup. Amelia Slater grabs the offensive rebound for the Falcons. Christian throws a pass out of bounds. Morrice misses a layup. Alexa Rose gets the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a layup. Christian misses a short jump shot. McKenzie Beem blocks a Christian putback. Christian gets the ball back, but misses a three point shot from the side. Aubrey Rogers passes to Kaylee McGowan, who hits a layup to give Morrice a 39-35 lead.

Makenzie Doerner steals the ball for the Orioles. Morrice misses a threeball from the wing. Kaylee McGowan gets the offensive rebound for the Orioles. Morrice misses a three point shot from the wing. Christian loses a pass out of bounds. Morrice misses a layup. Aubrey Rogers gets her hand on the ball and forces a Christian traveling violation. Paige Green steals the ball for the Falcons and hits a fast break layup. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw to chop the Morrice lead to 39-38 with 3:09 left on the clock.

Morrice misses a layup. Christian misfires on a threeball from the wing. Morrice is fouled, but misses the first shot of a one and one free throw opportunity. Alexa Rose hits a putback for the Orioles. Alexa Rose blocks a Christian layup. Alexa Rose is fouled and hits one of two free throws in a one and one opportunity to give Morrice a 42-38 lead with 56.9 seconds to go.

Aubrey Rogers puts back the missed free throw to give Morrice a six point lead. Christian misses a three point shot from the side. Gloryanna Williams is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws to shave the Morrice lead to 44-39 with 40.6 seconds remaining in the contest.

Makenzie Doerner is fouled and hits both shots in a one and one opportunity for Morrice. Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. Aubrey Rogers steals the ball, is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Morrice. Christian hits a three point shot, but it’s after the final buzzer has sounded.

Morrice wins the game by the score of 47-39.

Audrey Johnson led the Brighton Livingston Christian scoring with 15 points. Allie Johnson joined her teammate in double figures with 11 points. Paige Green tossed in 8 points. Amelia Slater scored 4 points and Gloryanna Williams tallied 1 point.

Aubrey Rogers had 23 points for Morrice to lead all scorers. Kaylee McGowan chipped in with 10 points. Alexa Rose contributed 7 points. Makenzie Doerner added 5 points. Lily Nowak put in 2 points.