With Marisha Berry back in the mix, Powhatan, quite suddenly was a force.
The point guard’s return from a wrist injury changed the entire dynamic for the Indians and allowed the third-seeded squad to blow past Western Albemarle 53-34 in the Jefferson District semifinals Wednesday.
“It opened things up, it made everybody better,” said Powhatan coach Paulette Bowman. “She’s a natural point guard. You have to have a natural point guard to do the natural things.”
Berry finished with 13 points and set the table for Monty Johnson on the wing and Mesha Morris in the post. That tandem finished with 16 points each to spark the Indians to a win that put Powhatan right in the mix in the Region II, Division 4 playoff bracket.
“Our no. 2-guard (Johnson) had to run the point because she was our next best ball-handler,” Bowman said. “So we took points away from her, she wasn’t able to use her athletic ability on the wing.”
If the Indians can manage to derail Monticello Friday night in the Jefferson District championship they’ll continue to improve their standing in a difficult Region II, Division 4 bracket.
Western Albemarle, on the other hand, was left scrambling because of the addition of Berry, who had a seismic impact on how the Warriors’ notoriously tough defense tried to slow down Powhatan.
“She’s very good off the dribble,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “Early on, she was beating us off the dribble and getting some kickouts and they made enough of those jumpers to make it difficult on us.”
More frustrating for the Warriors though was the fact that after the initial shock from Powhatan’s 10-2 start wore off, Western climbed back into it but couldn’t finish the job. At the half, the Warriors trailed by just six at 21-15.
“The bigger disappointment is once we adjusted, we got ourselves back in the game and then after that we couldn’t execute offensively to get ourselves over the hump,” Wright said.
Rachel Cooke closed strong for Western, scoring eight of her 14 points after the break. But Western missed too many easy shots during a rough six-point third quarter to make Cooke’s spurt count.
Western will advance to Region II play with seeding still to be determined while Powhatan will face Monticello in the Jefferson District final Friday at 6 p.m. at Fluvanna County.
