Schmidt finds range to lead Rocks over scrappy South Lyon contingent

BY ED WRIGHT
Jan. 19, 2010, 11:15 p.m.

  If you watched the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's Salem-South Lyon girls basketball game and you still don't know where Heidi Schmidt's favorite shot-launching spot on the court is, don't feel bad.

  Based on how many times the Lions gave the junior an open look from that spot, they don't know either.

  Schmidt buried a trio of critical 18-foot fourth-quarter jumpers from a spot on the Salem gymnasium floor that probably still has three layers of her footprints on it to lift the Rocks to a much-needed 33-30 victory over visiting South Lyon.

  To prove her versatility, Schmidt also forced a key jump ball at South Lyon's end of the court during the game's waning moments and hit a clutch free throw with 2.7 seconds left to all but seal the deal.

  Salem's fourth-consecutive win improved its record to 7-3 overall and 4-0 in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association's Central Division. South Lyon dipped to 5-4 and 2-2, respectively.

  "Our defense has really been stepping it up," said Schmidt when asked for the key to the Rocks' recent surge.

  When asked about her clutch shooting, the soft-spoken forward preferred to just flash a polite smile.

  "What happened tonight was that South Lyon made an absolute effort to take Brett (de Bear) and Sara (Stone) out of the game, which left it up to our other players to pick up the scoring slack," said Salem coach Fred Thomann.

  "We got seven points out of Rachel (Norman), seven out of Heidi (Schmidt) and six out of Tabitha Mann. That's 20 points out of girls other than Sara and Brett, which was huge."

  In a defensive struggle that yielded few open shots and fewer made shots, Salem led 16-9 at the half after trailing 7-4 after one quarter.

  A pair of Stone baskets at the outset of the third quarter vaulted the Rocks' advantage to 20-9. However, the small but feisty Lions owned the rest of the third quarter, outscoring the Rocks, 17-6, to forge a 26-all tie with eight minutes left.

  South Lyon's Danielle Godair pushed her team up, 28-26, with a pair of early fourth-quarter free throws, but Schmidt countered at the other end with the first of her huge jumpers.

  Salem grabbed a short-lived 30-28 with 3:30 to play on a slick touch pass from Norman to a wide-open Mann underneath the basket.

  Twenty seconds later, South Lyon's Gabrielle Williams re-tied the game at 30-30 with a short set shot.

  Salem earned the lead for good with 1:40 left when the Lions left Schmidt open in her spot. The junior calmly stroked an all-netter to make it 32-30.

  After an exchange of pointless possessions for both teams, South Lyon was forced to foul the hottest shooter on the court -- Schmidt -- with 2.7 seconds left. She knocked home the first and missed the second, but the Lions were unable to launch a potential game-tying shot.

  "This win reminded me of a three-point win we had at Livonia Stevenson last year," Thomann said. "It was a tough game, just like this one, but we pulled it out and it gave us a lot of confidence heading into the rest of the season. Hopefully, tonight's win does the same."

  Despite facing 32 minutes of double-coverage, Stone managed 10 points and nine rebounds. She also dished off four assists.

  Offensively, de Bear tallied a lone triple, but she was a headache for the Lions' shooters all night.

  Williams paced the Lions with nine points. Kirstin Short tossed in seven.

  South Lyon hit just 10 of 39 field goals (25.6 percent) and 8 of 13 free throws (61.5 percent).  Salem was 14 of 31 from the field (45.1 percent) and 4 of 7 from the stripe (57.1).

  The Rocks outrebounded the Lions, 21-19. South Lyon handled the ball a little better than their hosts, committing 14 turnovers to Salem's 19.