Headlines

Tinsley Time: STAB girls’ senior leader pushes Saints into final four

Senior Briana Tinsley may have had a quiet first half. But for the final possession in a tie game, the plan coming out of a timeout with 17 seconds left was simple and the one that STAB has gone to for years now in close games.

 

“Put the ball in Briana’s hands, that’s what it was all about,” said St. Anne’s coach Phil Stinnie. “We’ve been riding her for four years. It’s a tied up game, her last one at home, so we’re either going to win with her or lose it.”

 

Tinsley dribbled briefly by midcourt, then drove down the right side and drew a blocking foul as she elevated for a shot with 4.9 seconds to go. The UVa-bound point guard calmly sank both free throws, sandwiched around Flint Hill’s final timeout. Tinsley hit four-of-five free throws down the stretch, and tallied the Saints’ final six points in the game.

 

“I just knew I had to step up because my team needs me,” said Tinsley, who finished with a game-high 14 points. “It was good to boost up my confidence to get ready for the next couple of games, because I had been struggling all game.”

 

The Huskies’ last chance was a contested deep three, which struck the backboard well offline as the buzzer sounded. With the 44-42 victory, STAB advances to the state semifinals.

 

“They were well-prepared and they challenged us,” Stinnie said of Flint Hill’s showing, which was markedly different than in the teams’ lopsided early-season meeting. The Saints ran away with that one 64-32, but this time around it was a one- or two-possession game most of the way. “That is not the team we played way back in December.”

 

Based on the first quarter, though, the Huskies may have wondered if they were in for an up-and-down shootout. Junior forward Sierra Smith led the way for STAB with five inside buckets in the frame. She had a double-double by halftime, and finished the game matching Tinsley’s 14 points to go with 17 rebounds and three blocks.

 

“She came out focused,” said Stinnie. “She’s one of those perfectionists, so if she makes one mistake she drops her head. We’ve battled with that, but today she made some big plays at the beginning to keep us afloat. I’ve been telling her for a long time, when she’s focused, she’s just as good as any kid in the state.”

 

With the score 19-18 after one, the second quarter was strikingly slower as both defenses settled in. Although the Saints scored the first six points of the period, it took them more than five minutes. The Huskies knocked in a couple of buckets to pull within 25-22 at the break.

 

Tinsley started to heat up in the third as she tallied three buckets. The Saints opened a seven-point lead, prompting a full timeout at the 5:06 mark. The Huskies hung around thanks to two buckets, one a trey, from sophomore forward Claire Miller. It was 36-31 after three.

 

The visitors kept chipping away in the fourth and finally pulled even with 3:39 remaining on junior guard Cami Lamont’s three-pointer. Tinsley responded with a fast break layup-and-one for STAB, but then sophomore guard Whitney Wiley drained Flint Hill’s eighth and final trey to grab a 42-41 lead with two and a half to go. The Saints pulled back even with 43 seconds left when Tinsley hit one of two from the line, and then a defensive stand yielded a rebound and setup Tinsley’s final drive.

 

Lamont and Wiley led Flint Hill with 11 points each. Miller tallied seven. In contrast to the Huskies’ long range success, the Saints shot 0-for-14 from behind the arc. After Tinsley and Smith, Jovia Winkley and Vanessa Woodfolk each added six points for STAB. Getting the start in a coordinated gesture at the opening tip-off was senior guard Jayla Davis, who has been sidelined much of the year by a hand injury. The Huskies were allowed an uncontested layup before Davis scored one to cap her STAB career and exit to warm applause from the crowd.

 

STAB heads to The Steward School in Richmond on Friday afternoon for the VISAA Division I semifinal round.

Comments

comments