Elisabeth Coffman continues to emerge as a force.
Western Albemarle’s sophomore point guard has been an impact player since she was a freshman and she’s shown flashes of an unmistakable fearlessness.
But her explosive performance against Albemarle was perhaps her best yet as she poured in 23 points including 15 of Western’s 16 in the second half, leading to a 37-27 victory in the Jefferson District semifinals Wednesday night.
“Elisabeth played well and playing well early was important because they were clearly focused on Eleri (Hayden) after she had such a good game over there,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “Elisabeth took every shot she took tonight in rhythm and was comfortable and we’ll just live with that. Either it goes in or it doesn’t.”
More often than not Wednesday it went in. She went an efficient 7-for-12 from the field including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. She was also 6-for-6 at the free throw line. That effectiveness helped Western stick with the gameplan despite the extra attention Albemarle was paying to Hayden, who finished with six points and nine boards.
“We stay in the system, yes we have some wrinkles that we do to help Eleri or whoever it is to get open,” Wright said. “But ultimately, we’ll just run the system and end up with whatever we end up with.”
Albemarle countered with Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper, who scored 16 points of the Patriots’ 27, keeping Albemarle in a game where they sorely missed senior Anne Ridenhour, out with an injury suffered against Monticello. Tyler-Cooper rose to the occasion and by sheer force of will kept the pressure on the surging Warriors.
“She wants that pressure, she wants that role and right now it’s going to be our job to find our younger players and get them to step up and want that role with her,” Proudfoot said. “She’s constantly looking to score and she’s being double teamed and pressured on that so our younger kids have to be looking to support that and not watch. The other girls don’t know that they’re capable yet and they are.”
Haylee Howard-Radde chipped in eight points for the Patriots, including a pair of 3-pointers.
For Western, Ana O’Shea and Mady Starsia each hit a 3-pointer to help bolster Coffman’s effort, but it was the sophomore point guard doing the heavy lifting, coming up with three steals and a couple of assists in addition to her 23-point outburst.
Now the Warriors will lock up with Louisa County in the girls Jefferson District final while Albemarle turns its attention toward the Conference 16 tournament where they’re the probable No. 2 seed.
