Stephans has spectacular game

Hartford's Maria Stephans was the reason the Orioles beat West Bend West 49-37 Tuesday night. She scored 22 points, made eight fields goals and four 3-pointers.

She made two 3-pointers to start the second half that practically put the game out of reach. There wasn't much of a story in the first half. Hartford comes out with a big lead and West came back in the second quarter. When Stephans hit those shots, the light bulb went off in my head. I knew those 3's were important to the game. It was icing on the cake when she kept scoring.

That was the best individual performance by an area girl basketball player that I've seen this year. As a freshman, Stephans was on my radar as a good athlete because how good of a soccer player she is. But sometimes those really fast soccer players don't turn out to be the best point guards. Usually you see the really fast players go too fast and not take the ball with them.

Stephans is the exception. Her outside shooting was the highlight, but I was most impressed with how she handled West's press. About 75 percent of the time it was her breaking it with her dribble. I don't think she turned the ball over moving past the press.

There was one move I particularly was impressed with. Stephans once again dribbled by the West press and got to the middle, like you're suppose to do. She broke a Spartans ankles with a cross over dribble near the center line and made a floater in the lane. I starred that in my notebook after the play. The play didn't matter much with the out come of the game. The two points put the score at 42-29 in favor of Hartford. It was her last field goal of the night and it was the culmination of well played game.

Stephans' final two points were on bonus free throws. Usually when a player scores 22, you would think they would have more than just two points from the free-throw line.

Stephans probably has a better chance at playing at the next level in soccer than for basketball. A 5-foot-6 point guard in college hoops in very, very rare. However, it will be fun to watch her for two more years.