MICDS Shakes Off Rust Quickly In Dominant Metro League Win Over Lutheran South

AFFTON -- The first few minutes of Friday's Metro League girls basketball game began the same way that almost every game this season has begun for MICDS, with the Rams struggling to find their rhythm on offense.

There were several bad possessions at the beginning of the game for MICDS, including more than one that ended with either a turnover or a missed shot.

Surprisingly, even with a full week off after the Rams won the MICDS Girls Holiday Tournament championship game back on December 29, the rusty period only lasted those first few minutes on Friday.

Once MICDS did find its form, it blew right through Lutheran South, for a truly impressive, 52-24 win over the Lancers.

"We really kind of struggled to find our rhythm in that first half," MICDS head coach Scott Small said. "I didn't think we played as hard as we could early. But we're coming off a few days off, and that always kind of tough. The kids did a good job of fighting through it."

And they did it with defense, which is an aspect of the game that never wanes for the really good teams.

Even when shots aren't falling and passes aren't as crisp, playing tough defense is always something MICDS prides itself on doing.

"The kids were really flying around and being aggressive," Small said.

Junior guard Emily Kyman led the way for the Rams, with a game-high 14 points -- 12 of which came in the second half -- as MICDS pulled away from Lutheran South, thanks mostly to a phenomenal 13-3 third quarter.

Caroline Militello had 10 points, while teammates Josie Cusworth and Rachel Thompson added eight points and eight blocked shots, and nine points and four steals as well.

High-scoring junior Jocelynn Keller had just nine points to lead Lutheran South, which held only a brief lead early, before MICDS went on an 8-0 run in the first quarter to take the lead and an 11-0 run to close the third that effective put the game out of reach.

MICDS is now 11-1 on the season, an owners of a nine-game winning streak that dates all the way back to the beginning of December.

Lutheran South fell to 7-4, and had its modest two-game winning streak snapped by MICDS, which has moved up to the No. 6 spot in the weekly Small School girls basketball poll.

The Lancers will get their chance to get back on the winning track on Tuesday, when they'll play a non-conference game at Bishop DuBourg High in south St. Louis.

MICDS will play its next game on Monday, back at home at the McDonnell Gymnasium, against Ladue High, which enjoyed the return to the lineup of 6'3 center Taylor Robinson on Friday.

Robinson hadn't played since the beginning of December due to a "personal issue", but was back on the court for Ladue on Friday, and is expected to start and play when they play at MICDS on Monday.

Tip-off for that game on Monday is 5:30 p.m.

Scoring Summary

Score by Quarters ........... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 -- Final Score

MICDS .......................... 14 . 13 . 13 . 12 -- 52

Lutheran South ............... 8 ... 7 ... 3 ... 6 -- 24

Individual Scorers

MICDS -- Emily Kyman 14, Caroline Militello 10, Rachel Thompson 9, Josie Cusworth 8, Cameron Jackson 6, Maya Howard 3, Taylor Baur 2.

Lutheran South -- Jocelyn Keller 9, Rachel Steutermann 7, Jessica Daube 6, Jasmine Cawley 1, Allison Yaeger 1