Stone drops 20 on Mustangs in Salem's fifth consecutive victory

Jan. 23, 2010, 2:35 a.m.

  Northville's girls basketball team got buried by a one-Stone avalanche Friday night.

  Salem senior forward Sara Stone defied the extra defensive attention she routinely draws to score 20 points in the Rocks' 39-29 triumph over visiting Northville.

  She also pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out a handful of assists.

  Is it any wonder an army of college programs would love to sign her to a scholarship in the near future?

  The 10-point victory improved the Rocks to 8-3 overall and 5-0 in the KLAA Central Division. The Rocks' only three losses this season are against top-10-ranked teams.

  "Defensively, we were pretty solid tonight," said Salem coach Fred Thomann.  "Offensively, let's just say we got it done.  They threw a tough full-court press on us that gave us some problems."

  Northville led 12-10 after one quarter and 14-13 at the break. However, Salem's defense buckled down in the third quarter, yielding just two points while the offense was scoring 10 to help the Rocks maintain a 23-16 lead.

  Salem iced the game by outscoring the Mustangs 16-13.

  Stone wasn't alone in the production category. Also shining were Brett de Bear (7 points), Heidi Schmidt (6 points, four assists and six rebounds), Breanne Beaver (three points, eight rebounds) and Katelynn Krause, who added two points.