CHELSEA – The tables were turned on Airport’s girls basketball team.
The Jets made a habit of bolting out to early leads while winning a school-record 24 games this season.
They experienced the other side of that equation in the Division 2 state quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 17.
Tecumseh needed just 3 minutes and 25 seconds to build an 18-5 lead and cruised to a 75-44 victory.
“They’re a good basketball team,” Airport coach Darrell Mossburg said.
Starting fast was a priority for Tecumseh.
“We knew we had to come out really fast tonight,” Tecumseh coach Kristy Zajac said. “They come out really fast with some intense defensive pressure and we knew we could not let that get to us. We had to come out first and fast and we had to keep pounding the ball on every possession, which we were able to do tonight.”
What did Mossburg say to his players when he called timeout when they faced a 13-point deficit not long after the final strains of the national anthem?
“Just weather the storm and keep competing,” Mossburg recalled.
Unfortunately for the Jets, the storm never abated.
Tecumseh led 23-7 after one quarter and 45-14 at the half.
The defending state champions pushed the lead into the mid-30s several times in the second half, but never quite reached the 40-point spread that would have triggered the running-clock mercy rule.
“I don’t think our rotations (defensively) were very good in the first half,” Mossburg said. “We had to take our press off a little bit.”
Creating points off the press had been one of Airport’s greatest weapons this season.
Without that, the Jets struggled to find offense.
Olivia Gratz led with 15 points and Peyton Zajac added 14, but all but 8 of those 29 points came in the second half. Zajac also collected 9 rebounds.
Tecumseh’s defense bothered Airport, forcing 19 turnovers.
Reese Grounds (20), Chloe Bullinger (18) and Avery Zajac (17) all scored in double figures for the 25-2 Indians and Addi Zajac had a big game with 9 points and 14 rebounds.
Mossburg said the loss doesn’t take any luster off a 24-3 season that included a perfect 14-0 run through the Huron League.
“We’re here,” he said. “A lot of teams would like to be here.”
The Jets must bid farewell to seniors Gratz, Zajac, Brenna Baker and Jillian Baker, who helped build a 71-31 record during their four seasons on the varsity.
“We will miss those four,” Mossburg said. “They’ve all had tremendous basketball careers, tremendous athletic careers. They will do well again in softball this spring.”
The cupboard won’t be left bare.
Leading scorer Sophia Mator (16.9 points per game) is a junior and key contributors Brooklyn Martin and Mya Stahr are sophomores. Airport’s junior varsity finished with a 21-1 record this season.
“We will re-load,” Mossburg said. “The expectations won’t change next year.
“This is part of the process. We got to another level this season. We’re still building. This will be a springboard for us.”
Tecumseh 23 22 15 15 – 75
Airport 7 7 12 18 – 44
TECUMSEH: Brown 2 (1) 0-0 5, Bullinger 6 (2) 4-5 18, Groundes 9 (2) 0-0 20, Av. Zajac 8 (1) 0-0 17, Ad. Zajac 3 3-3 9, Jouzapaitis 1 (1) 0-0 3, Torres 1 1-2 3. Totals 30 (7) 8-10 75.
AIRPORT: Zajac 5 4-6 14, Gratz 6 3-5 15, B. Baker 2 (1) 0-0 5, J. Baker 2 0-0 4, Mator 1 2-2 4, Martin 0 2-2 2. Totals 16 (1) 11-15 44.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Airport’s girls basketball season ends with loss in quarterfinals
Reporting by Niles Kruger, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
