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Clutch free throws lift Tiger girls to second win
Coaches talk all the time about the need for their teams to execute the little things and maximize every opportunity.
For the Brentsville District varsity girls basketball team, last Friday night in Nokesville provided an example of that. The Tiger squad played fundamentally sound ball throughout the night to top district rival John Handley, 53-49.
Trailing by nine points with less than 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, point guard Keyla Baltimore (18 points) drove to the hole for a hoop, drawing a foul along the way. Her path to the basket had been cleared when teammate Kelsey Taylor (2 points) set a pick at the top-left side of the post.
Baltimore followed through by converting the 3-point play.
Over a minute later, trailing by three points, Stephanie Pratapas (5 points) hustled and tussled for a loose ball that ultimately ended up being called a jump ball in favor of Handley (3-1 overall).
That sort of aggression, however, eventually paid off positively for Brentsville (2-5) when senior Paige Knowlton later tied herself up with Alexa Jordan of Handley with the Tigers up by two points.
Her attack forced Jordan to stumble and be called for a travel, turning the ball over to Brentsville as 40.8 seconds remained on the game clock.
“One of the things we talk about all the time is, ‘Who do you want to go to war with?’ And I always tell girls, ‘Paige wants somebody to go to war with her.’ She’s mentally tough and aggressive,” said coach Rob Weaver.
The Tigers by that point were also red hot from the line.
In the final 4:30 of the game, Brentsville converted eight out of 10 free throws, six of which were provided by Baltimore. The point guard finished the day with a 10-for-13 free throw performance, while the Tiger team totaled 13 out of 17.
“I told her, ‘It’s your time. The fourth quarter is your time. We’re going wherever you take us,’” Weaver said of Baltimore. “And we tell her, ‘When you go to the hoop, better things happen.’”
Handley ended up missing seven foul shots in the fourth quarter as part of an overall 10-for-17 day from the line.
And though the Tigers concentrated almost solely on layups and short jumpers in the final period, their guard-heavy offense consistently worked the perimeter in the first three quarters. The team ended up drilling six three pointers compared to the Judges’ zero.
Starting shooting guard Chelsie Tooke (9 points) connected on half of those while Kelley Jacobson cashed in a 10-point performance with two 3s of her own. Emily Johnson (5 points) hit the other.
“By having our better three-point shooters in the corners now and bringing another ball-handler up in Keyla, we went into a 4-1 offense that was going to extend the zone,” said Weaver. “So now they had to make a decision about what they wanted to do.”
Baltimore’s team-leading 18 points matched that of Handley leading scorer Erin Drumheiler, who routinely puts up double digits for the Judges.
With Drumheiler’s effect neutralized, the 10 points by Jacobson and nine points by Tooke resounded even more as Handley’s next-highest scoring player, Sadielyn Thomas, registered eight points.
“In the second half, by the fourth quarter, we knew we had to spread it out and make Keyla go inside,” said Knowlton. “She was the only one that we knew that could go inside and penetrate and get the foul.”
“When we spread the floor, then that brings their big girls out and gives us a better chance to penetrate, pass them, kick and do whatever we need to go,” added Baltimore. “That’s our style of play, either shooting or penetrating.”
When Brentsville was not pressing the glass, they pressured defensively. Knowlton’s three steals and five rebounds came from boxing out, sliding over to help out defensively and being a presence down low, according to Weaver.
It apparently rubbed off on her teammates, too, as Jacobson hauled in four rebounds in the first quarter alone and Taylor added three boards and a block to the defensive machine.
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