It wasn’t until the fourth quarter just six days prior that the STAB girls found their rhythm against Charlottesville’s defensive pressure after struggling from the field the first three quarters. In the first round the Daily Progress Holiday Classic, the Saints met up with the Black Knights again, and this time from the get-go, St. Anne’s was on point. Thanks to a huge game underneath from NK Illang and another strong showing on defense, the Saints were able to cruise to a 70-40 win to set up a great battle with Spotswood on Saturday night.
“The biggest thing this time was that we came out in the first quarter and hit shots and we didn’t do that the last time,” said STAB coach Phil Stinnie. “You can’t take anything away from (Charlottesville’s) defense, they made everything difficult. They’re very speedy and they make you take bad shots. They make you rush into your shots. Once our girls realized if they settled down the results would be different, we saw that.”
A 9-0 run to start the first quarter turned into a 15-4 streak with the Saints forcing turnovers and getting points in transition and knocking down shots underneath the basket — their plan period no matter who they face, much less a young CHS team that is at a height disadvantage almost at every position.
“Last week I didn’t play so well,” Illang said. “This week I worked on the fouling and making sure I took the ball inside instead of shooting outside.”
STAB’s success on the defensive end and the rewards at the other end of the court continued into the second where the Saints went up 26-8 to take a commanding lead.
“All of us made up our mind that we were going to win this game,” Illang said. “So we did it.”
After struggling early to maintain possession, the Black Knights were finally able to get to the basket in the second, but went into the break trailing 37-20.
With Illang and company having their way underneath the basket, STAB took at 20 point lead going into the fourth and only added to in the final frame to win by 30.
“I told them that if we played position defense that if we played sound position defense that Charlottesville’s a young team and we’d see some turnovers,” Stinnie said.
Illang led all scorers with 23 points while Ashley Taylor added 18, almost all of them for both inside the paint. Brianna Tinsley chipped in 17 points.
For Charlottesville, Alaijah Ragland had 12 points while Kendall Ballard finished with 10.
The win sets up one of the premiere matchups in the state between a private and public school as the Saints (5-3) face the Blazers (7-0) in the next round. Both teams have been regular final four teams in their respective playoff formats over the last five years. Tipoff is at 8:15 p.m. at Western Albemarle with the winner facing the winner of Liberty Christian and Miller in the championship round.
Charlottesville (2-4) will get its first look at two-time Jefferson District champ Monticello (5-2) at Western at 4:45 p.m.
STAB boys roll past Monroe in second half
Despite facing significant foul trouble early on, William Monroe was able to keep St. Anne’s from finding the tempo it wanted in the first half. Jeff Early’s rebounding and play underneath combined with a timely 3-pointer from Keegan Woolford were enough to keep the Dragons in the game in the first half. The second half was a different story with Kareem Johnson and Jalen Harrison taking over and propelling the Saints to 68-43 win.
“We jumped passing lanes, put a bit more pressure on the ball bringing it up and were just able to get the easy transition buckets,” said STAB coach Brian Kent of the difference between the first and second halves. “We executed inside. We executed in the third quarter.”
The Dragons were able to slow the game down in the first quarter, but an allotment of fouls and converted free throws gave the Saints a 16-14 lead after one quarter. The game came to a crawl in the next frame with even more free throw shooting as STAB went up 24-14, but Early’s play inside helped to cut the deficit to six points headed into the break.
“I think we played (Jeff Early) passive, just kind of straight up and behind him and he’s a strong kid and has a good left,” Kent said. “We had to front him going into the second.”
Out of the break though, the Saints got the track-meet pace they desired with Johnson and Harrison flying down the court in transition either off of turnovers or rebounds and setting up a 15-point lead.
“We just came out with urgency and just started to have more fun because before we were kind of stiff,” Johnson said. “We went out and did what we knew and had a bunch of fast break opportunities trying to get layups, dunks and on defense looking for steals.”
Monroe was able to recover but never dig into the lead as the 15-point margin stood heading into the fourth. There the Saints continued to succeed running up and down the court to take a 23-point lead midway through the frame before the benches on both teams came in to finish the contest.
Harrison led all scorers with his 18 points while Johnson threw in 15 to go along with six of his team’s 12 steals. Johnson also had four assists.
For Monroe, Early finished with 11 points, nine of them coming in the first half.
STAB (6-2) faces Charlottesville (5-1) in the second round at CHS at 6:30 p.m.. The two scrimmaged early in the season and the winner faces the winner of Albemarle and Western Albemarle in the championship game.
“This is a good thing getting us prepared for the Prep League because that’s the number one goal,” Kent said. “Playing Woodberry on January 7th.”
