The opening and closing stretches pretty much told the whole story of Tuesday night’s Bay Rivers District girls basketball showdown between first-place Grafton and second-place Poquoson.
The first six minutes of the game saw a stifling defensive effort in which Grafton held Poquoson scoreless en route to jumping out to a 13-0 lead out of the gate.
The final six minutes saw an offensive eruption in which the Clippers, after watching their commanding third-quarter lead dwindle to 10 in the first 60 seconds of the final period, caught fire from long range to outscore the Islanders 25-3 the rest of the way.
The end result was a 66-34 pounding that was every bit as one-sided as the final score would indicate.
After the first meeting between the two sides went down to the wire before Grafton held on to win 63-58, Tuesday’s contest proved to be anything but the back-and-forth battle many expected.
With the victory, Grafton (12-2, 10-0 Bay Rivers) cushioned its lead to two games over Poquoson (8-2 Bay Rivers) and three games over third-place Smithfield (7-3).
“Poquoson is a great team, so this is a really big win to give us a little breathing room,” Grafton coach Tommy Bayse said after the game. “Our goal since the beginning of the season has been to get that district championship banner for a third year in a row, and the girls really take that seriously.”
Bayse added that he was pleased with his team’s work ethic during Christmas break in an effort to make sure they remained sharp and in the same groove that helped them complete the first half of the district schedule a perfect 9-0.
“The last game we played before Christmas against Chancellor, we didn’t play well at all,” Bayse said after the game. “So the girls took it upon themselves to work extra hard over the break because we were looking forward to Poquoson again.”
Added Grafton point guard Emily Beyer, who was one of three Clippers in double figures Tuesday with 15 points, “We practiced all over Christmas break working on our plays and putting a few new sets in because we knew this could be one of the biggest games of the season.
“Now we have a two-game lead, but we still have to come out and play hard because [coach] Bayse always reminds us not to get satisfied.”
Bayse said his team worked diligently during the break on tweaking their press defense from a full-court to three-quarter court set, and said they implemented a new-look half-court trap as well. Those adjustments were particularly effective as Grafton’s defense seemed impenetrable throughout.
Grafton’s suffocating pressure held Poquoson scoreless for the first six minutes of the game.
Bayse said he would like to see his team shoot at a higher percentage from the field, although he quickly added that he was pleased with the looks they generated out of their offensive sets with crisp ball movement.
And with the way Olivia Wilson (18 points, 7 rebounds) and Renee Roe (9 points, 13 rebounds) were crashing the glass, some of the Clippers’ best looks came off second-chance points.
Wilson hauled in four offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone and scored the first 11 points of the game off stick-backs. Christa Hall’s jumper made it 13-0 before Poquoson finally got on the scoreboard thanks to Toni-Anne Whitlow’s layup with just 2:10 left in the opening period. The Clippers led 17-3 before Sydney Turner (11 points) buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Poquoson.
The Islanders found some offensive rhythm in the second quarter but had no answer on the defensive end as Grafton took a 30-18 lead at halftime.
Hannah Olson (10 points, 7 assists) and Beyer got the offense going in the second half for Grafton. Beyer knocked down back-to-back jumpers early before Olson drained a pull-up 3-pointer to give the Clippers their biggest lead of the game so far, 39-22.
In a span of 60 seconds though, Grafton saw its 41-25 lead to open the final eight minutes of play dwindle to 10, 41-31, after Turner and Anne Bochman knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the quarter.
Rather than faltering, Grafton responded with its most impressive spurt of the game outscoring the Islanders 25-3 the remainder of the quarter. The Clippers caught fire from beyond the arc as Wilson (2), Olson, Beyer, Hall and Marshall each connected from long range during the final five minutes of regulation.
“They knew I wasn’t happy after we sat back and watched them shoot those two open 3-pointers (at the beginning of the period),” Bayse said. “But I guess I can’t be too mad with how they responded.”
Grafton 66 Poquoson 34
Grafton- 17 13 11 25 – 66
Poquoson- 6 12 7 9 – 34
Grafton (12-2, 10-0 BRD)- Wilson 18, Beyer 15, Olson 10, Roe 9, Hall 7, Marshall 3, Baxley 2, Daniels 2. Totals 22 10-14; 66.
Poquoson (8-2)- Turner 11, K. Doggett 5, Frazier 4, Whitlow 4, L. Doggett 4, Bicham 3, Kincaid 1. Totals 12 7-10; 34.
