St. Anne’s-Belfield’s celebration was a bit muted at first. There was no leaping or jumping into the air. The Saints just exchanged a few quick hugs before shaking hands with the opposition because, despite a strong finish that sent STAB to the Division 2 state final four, Saints coach Phil Stinnie spent the final minute loudly and forcefully begging and pleading with his team not to foul. Nearly the entire minute.
But who could blame the Saints? That aggressive play is what had put them in position to win in the first place.
“That’s part of my team — they get that adrenaline flowing and they’re liable to do anything out there,” Stinnie said.
Wednesday night all they did was win, riding Sarah Imovbioh’s big night to a 64-60 victory over Norfolk Collegiate to advance to the state semifinals. The junior forward scored two of her 34 points with 1:45 to play to push the Saints ahead for good, stealing an errant pass from the Oaks and racing the length of the floor for the bucket and a two-point lead.
From there, her teammate Addi Bolin buried four free throws, with the final two sealing the game with 7.5 seconds to play. Bolin finished with 12 points and, along with Sarah Toliver who also had 12, gave Imovbioh all the offensive support she needed.
“They stepped up and hit some big shots and made some big plays down the stretch,” Stinnie said. “Those are the type of players that can do that night in and night out. They just need to be focused.”
Imovbioh carried the Saints through huge stretches, dominating off passes into the post with slick moves on the block or in transition, where she often turned her own rebounds or steals into fastbreaks. Even when it appeared she’d lost her legs during the fourth quarter after yet another hard-fought rebound, she collected herself and found a second wind, coming up with several turnovers and key boards to swing the momentum back to the Saints.
“I really worked on (pushing the ball) during the summer and it really (makes Stinnie mad) if he doesn’t see me doing it,” Imovbioh said. “So I have any choice but to do it. He says I should make use of what I have.”
Imovbioh poured in her 34 points while also hauling in 20 rebounds and registering four blocks and five steals. The junior, who often doesn’t face a player in her league athletically on the opposing side, drew a tough test with Collegiate’s Markell Smith, another talented junior who has drawn interest from Miami and James Madison among others. Smith finished with 21 points on the night, but by the end it was clear that Imovbioh had gotten the best of her counterpart down low.
“I told her this is the game everybody’s talking about because that young lady (Smith) is really good, nobody has an answer for her throughout the state,” Stinnie said. “I said we need you to take more control, put them on your back and win it. She came out focused and ready.”
Imovbioh scored her 1,000th career point on her first bucket of the game.
Collegiate got a solid one-two punch from its own guards, TiAna Addison and Dee Maddox, who finished with 13 and 14 points respectively. The tandem did a solid job of feeding Smith and running the offense, sparking the Oaks to a seven-point halftime lead.
“They really stepped up tonight and we’ve been waiting for that for a few games,” Collegiate coach Suzanne Midkiff. “Teams really like to focus on Markell and when they play well it really takes the pressure off of her.”
Collegiate even withstood a powerful 6-0 spurt out of the locker room in the third by STAB when six straight points cut the lead to just one point. The Oaks bounced back and extended the lead back to six quickly.
St. Anne’s heads to the state semifinals at Benedictine Friday. If things go well, perhaps STAB can put together a more exuberant celebration.
