The Chieftains got a solid effort off the bench from senior Alyssa Rojeski, who has been hampered by injuries. “They do all the things you want a team to do.” Rea scored the first 11 points of the second half, including three 3-point baskets to extend Utica’s lead to 37-5. The Chieftains led 11-2 after the first quarter and 26-5 at halftime. She just gets it.”Ĭousino’s Sydney Dixon scored on a layup for the first points of the game, but after that it was all Utica. “She has hand-eye coordination and foot quickness unlike any kid we’ve ever had. “She’s got the quickest hands and quickest feet of anyone I’ve coached and we’ve been blessed with some great talent,” said McDonald, who was the coach when Utica won the state Class A championship in 1999. McDonald marvels every day at the way Rea plays the game. I’m really excited for the rest of the season.” We have a lot of people who are really committed and they want to learn every day at practice. “We have a great group of athletes,” Rea said. Rea, who scored 25 points, collected eight rebounds and five steals and didn’t play a minute in the fourth quarter, is the Chieftains’ leader, but she has a strong supporting cast. I think it’s still in the back of our minds that we know the things we did at the end of the year and we want to see if we can continue doing good things.” That was everything to build off of and it propelled us into the offseason. “You win a district and a regional game and then you have the disappointment of not getting to play. It’s a process and they bought into the process. They worked their butts off in the offseason. This season has just been a continuation.
The kids learned how to play and how to play with each other.
“We were so young last year, but by the end of the year we were playing really good basketball,” said coach Tom McDonald.