Tuesday went well. But business is about to pick up.
Covenant’s girls basketball team coasted past No. 11-seed Randolph Macon Academy Tuesday in the VISAA D2 state first round, winning 89-16.
“We didn’t know much about them, but you look at their record so you’ve really got to respect that,” said Covenant coach Rock Watson. “But like I told our team it really doesn’t matter who we play as long as we do what we’re supposed to do, locking up defensively and being aggressive, everything will take care of itself.”
The Eagles head east to take on Norfolk Christian in the state quarterfinals Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Covenant advanced on the strength of Emily Maupin, Sara Meakem and Ella Dalton’s individual offensive performances. All three Eagles outscored Randolph Macon on their own, with Maupin pouring in 41 points while Meakem checked in with 21, all of it coming on seven 3-pointers. Dalton scored 17 points, and Dalton’s performance may be the critical piece of the puzzle for the Eagles as they try and fight out of the No. 6 seed and wedge their way into the state final four.
“It was so exciting just to see the way she stepped up and led the team this year,” Maupin said. “All year she’s just been growing and trying to fill the role of point guard and also the third scorer. Seeing her step up tonight was awesome.”
Dalton has been a big part of the Eagles finding another gear in the second half of the season, giving Covenant a steady ball-handler and a third regular scoring option. She’s particularly adept at defending up at the top when Covenant looks to pressure the opposition and then turning turnovers into quick scoring.
“It’s definitely huge, I think everyone needs to score,” Dalton said. “It helps when we have a third and even fourth and fifth scoring option to get the pressure off of Emily and Sara. A lot of the higher level teams will be double teaming them.”
That may prove to be a taller task than those teams realize. Maupin’s 41 and Meakem’s strong evening from beyond the arc came in part due to an adjustment the Eagles made after last week’s LIS tournament to improve their spacing.
“In the LIS tournament, Emily was always getting doubled and triple teamed and it took a loss for us to think ‘lets separate them’ because normally their on the same side,” Watson said. “We practiced Emily being on one side and Sara on the weakside because now that’s one man down. I think that worked out well for us”
Maupin and Meakem exited their last game on their home court after years as fixtures in the Eagles’ lineup, an emotional finish to two pretty tremendous careers. Maupin is the school’s all-time leading scorer while Meakem surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this year.
“We just wanted to go out with a bang and finish strong since this will be our last time ever playing there for us,” Maupin said. “This place means a lot to me.”
Right now though, the Eagles are on a mission. A win against No. 3 Norfolk Christian would be the furthest Covenant has progressed in the state tournament in Maupin and Meakem’s career, but they’ll have to get it done on the road.
