Posts
Viva Loudoun Editor
Purcellville (Feb. 26, 2013) - High School basketball offenses tend to run hot and cold but a great defense never takes a night off. And the Woodgrove High School girls have a great defense, allowing opponents just 31 points per game, and Saturday the Wolverines had an off night offensively but shut down rival Loudoun County in a 38-22 Region II Division 4 title game win.
It was Woodgrove's fourth win over County this year and earned the Wolverines (25-3) a VHSL D4 state quarterfinal game Saturday, March 2 against Region I runner-up Courtland (25-3). Game time is 4:30 p.m. at Robinson High School in Fairfax.
The loss puts the Raiders (23-5) on the road in Norfolk in a quarterfinal match-up with Region I champion Grafton (26-2). Game time is 11 a.m. at Old Dominion University.
Both teams looked a bit tired coming into Saturday's regional final and Woodgrove turned the ball over 15 times in the first half and scored just 15 points ... but still led by six points as the tenacious Wolverine defense limited the Raiders to nine points.
For the game, County managed just six field goals on 6 of 36 shooting. The Raiders were cold from the start, going 1 of 13 in the first quarter and missing nine straight attempts after freshman Alyssa Paige's drive put the team ahead to start the game's scoring.
Woodgrove wasn't doing much better on their offensive end, turning the ball over seven times in the first five minutes of the contest while missing 8 of their first 10 shot attempts.
What Woodgrove did have was a decisive rebounding edge all night, out-boarding the Raiders 42-25 in the contest. Woodgrove senior center and Region II Player of the Year Stephanie Purnell's follow in made it 6-2 with 1:29 left in the quarter. Senior Brittany Basinger then scored with 41 ticks to go on a nice assist by junior Kaitlyn Lorinchak to make it 8-2 Woodgrove.
Loudoun County tied the contest at 8-8 in second quarter with the Raider defense forcing four turnovers in just 60 seconds, but Woodgrove senior Sarah Hardison -- with a game-high 12 points, all of which seemed to come at pivotal moments -- hauled down a defense rebound and knifed her way up the court and finished with a layin with 3:58 to go in the first half.
And though the contest would remain close until the final quarter, the Wolverines never trailed again.
Woodgrove's dominance in the paint, led to second and third opportunities such as senior Maggie's Buxton's rebound and kick out to Purnell who then knocked down a short jumper to make it 12-8 at 3:16.
It was still just 12-9 Woodgrove with 12 seconds to go in the first half, when Hardison, after missing a shot that was rebounded by Basinger, spotted up again and hit a jumper. The Wolverines then stole the ball and Buxton was fouled with 0:00.9 showing on the clock; she hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 15-9 halftime lead.
Woodgrove couldn't pull away in the third quarter as the Raiders got an unlikely 3-pointer from junior Maggie Phillips (team-high 9 points) to make it 17-16 Woodgrove with 2:19 left in the quarter. Phillips usually does her scoring closer to the basket, averaging 14.4 points per game, but the Wolverines pay plenty attention to defensively.
Hardison again took it upon herself as the game got close and just six seconds later she was fouled while driving to the basket and she hit both shots. It was another strong finish to a quarter for Woodgrove as sophomore Brooke Basinger knocked down the first of three second-half 3-pointers with 1:03 left. Brooke Basinger finished with 11 points, all after the break.
If you took away the final 90 seconds of each quarter in the contest, it was a 1-point affair but Woodgrove out-scored Loudoun County during those crucial seconds of each quarter by a combined 15-0 on the night.
Paige's "and one" cut Woodgrove's lead to 24-20 with 5:28 left in the low-scoring contest. Twice the Raiders had opportunities to get even closer but on each of those possessions they turned the ball over before getting off a shot.
A third chance trip down the court led to two Hardison free throws with 2:27 left and it was 29-20 Woodgrove. By the time the Loudoun County bench was hit with a technical foul call with 2:18 left -- resulting in four Woodgrove free throws and possession as they were already heading towards the line after foul call -- it was a double digit Wolverine lead and almost time for Woodgrove to start celebrating their first regional title.
Just to make sure, Brooke Basinger hit a final 3-pointer with about a minute left and by that time it was all smiles on the Woodgrove side.
Purnell and Hardison combined for 16 rebounds but Woodgrove's leader was guard Brittany Basinger who hustled her way around the court for 12 rebounds.
Woodgrove 38, Loudoun County 22
LC 2 7 7 6 - 22
WG 8 7 7 16 - 38
LC: Gillis 1, Paige 8, Knox 2, Phillips 9, Kushner 2. 6 9-12 22.
WG: BRI. Basinger 2, BRO. Basinger 11, Hardison 12, Buxton 1, Purnell 8, Lynch 2, Lorinchak 2. Totals 12 11-18 38.
3-PT: LC 1 (Phillips), WG 3 (BRO. Basinger 3).
Reb: LC 25 (Gianelos 6), WG 42 (Purnell 9).
Turnovers: LC 19, WG 22
Loudoun County vs. Woodgrove: 9 Games in 13 Months
1.6.12 - Loudoun County 58, Woodgrove 39
2.10.12 - Woodgrove 51, Loudoun County 44
2.11.12 - *Woodgrove 61, Loudoun County 53 (One-Game Top Seed Playoff)
2.17.12 - **Loudoun County 39, Woodgrove 33 (Dulles Finals)
1.4.13 - Woodrove 58, Loudoun County 49
2.8.13 - Woodgrove 38, Loudoun County 35
2.15.13 - **Woodgrove 53, Loudoun County 37 (Dulles Finals)
2.23.13 - ***Woodgrove 38, Loudoun County 22 (Region II Finals)
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment