Height leads ACS to win over Houston

March 4, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

HOUSTON - Hustle can sometimes overcome height in basketball - but not often.

The Houston girls fell victim to dominant inside play by Anchorage Christian Saturday afternoon, dropping a 60-35 Southcentral Conference contest at Houston High School.

&#8220They're a very hard match-up for us,” Houston coach Jason Spakowsky said following the game.

ACS center Anna Simmers did much of the damage for the Lions, scoring a game-high 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

Caylee Redford was the high scorer for the Hawks with 11, while Jen Mason added eight in just one half of play.

Behind the inside game of Simmers, ACS ran out to a 17-2 lead after one quarter, and held a 33-8 advantage at the half.

The scrappy Hawks managed to hang tough in the second half, playing the Lions even, but the damage had already been done.

&#8220Even if you're playing good defense, they're still able to get a shot up,” Spakowsky said.

Anne Warner and Emily Hundley each scored four points and grabbed six rebounds for the Hawks.

Despite the lopsided outcome in the season finale, Spakowsky said he still believes his team has a good shot at advancing in next weekend's conference tournament. The key, he said, will be for Houston to utilize what it does best - creating turnovers with hard-nosed defense and hustle - while limiting mistakes at both ends of the floor.

&#8220When we play as a team, like we did in the second half, I think we can play with anybody,” Spakowsky said.