By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Denbigh Baptist may not have gotten off to the best start, but it found a way to finish strong against Covenant in the VISAA Division II quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
The Minutemen used a solid inside game – led by Kimberlyn Schindler – to rally past the Eagles for the 48-38 victory.
The win marked the program’s first in the state tournament. Denbigh will face No. 4 seed St. Anne’s-Belfield Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Schindler and teammate Jamie Collier provided a one-two punch in the paint, combining for 32 points to help lift the visitors.
“Our girls were missing a lot of shots early and could have been easily frustrated. But they stayed with the game plan and little by little began to chip away and we were able to make a good comeback,” Denbigh coach Steve Fletcher said. “The combination of [Schindler] and Jamie Collier inside was big for us.”
It was all Covenant early, as the Eagles broke to a 13-2 first-quarter lead. Emily Smethurst hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game, and teammate Margot Leibl followed with a trey of her own as Covenant took a 9-0 lead.
The Eagles maintained a double-digit lead for much of the first half before the visitors went on a 10-2 scoring run to cut the deficit to 23-21 by halftime.
Denbigh (15-9) took its first lead as Jessie Oder drained a 3-pointer in the third quarter. The senior guard connected again from outside the arc to give the Minutemen a 31-25 advantage with 2:42 remaining in the third. However, Leibl answered with a 3-pointer and Taylor Peed made a basket underneath at the buzzer to cut it to 31-30 at the end of the quarter.
Peed, who paced the Eagles with 11 points, made a nifty move to the basket to give her team a 34-33 lead, but a bucket by Schindler and the ensuing free throw made it 36-34, a lead that Denbigh didn’t relinquish. The Minutemen continued to be patient on offense and worked the ball inside often.
Schindler scored 10 of her game-high 21 points in the final frame as the visitors pulled away. The junior forward also grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. Collier finished with 11 points and Oder had nine.
“They made some adjustments and played hard and I think we got tired,” said Covenant coach Mike Thornton. “We just couldn’t stop [Schindler] from scoring, and we struggled on the offensive end in the second half. But we played hard and the girls did everything we asked them to, we just didn’t win.”
Leibl finished with nine points, while Smethurst had six. Another bright spot for the Eagles was the play of a pair of freshmen – River Frazier and Treasure Doberson. Frazier got the start at guard and finished with seven points, while Doberson had three points.
Although Thornton knows he has a lot to look forward to next year, he will miss Smethurst, his senior leader.
“Emily’s been on the team for three years. She’s such a spiritual person that she keeps everybody centered,” Thornton added. “She’s got a nice shot outside, and she drives. She’s somebody I’m definitely going to miss.”
