Despite leading until the final minute of play, Williamsburg Christian Academy’s girls basketball team dropped a 56-55 heartbreaker to St. Catherine’s at home Tuesday night.
Junior Keyana Brown had another impressive night scoring a game-high 22, however missed free throws down the stretch proved costly for the Eagles as the Saints took their first and only lead with just seconds remaining.
“It’s very frustrating,” coach John Perkins said after the game. “But I’m proud of the girls, they played hard. St. Catherine’s is a big school with a storied reputation … it was a good, competitive game.”
WCA took a 48-47 advantage into the fourth when St. Catherine’s began to struggle with the ball, turning it over on three of its first four possessions of the quarter. A three-ball from Ashley Cunningham put the Eagles up 53-49. But like they had all night, the Saints fought back to make it a 55-53 game with 3:10 to play.
Still, the Eagles had control as Jalynn Ponzo was fouled shooting a three and went to the line with a chance to extend the WCA lead to 5. Instead, she missed all three, and St. Catherine’s capitalized when Ali Doswell connected to tie things up with under a minute left.
As time wound down, the Eagles could hold for the final shot. Brown penetrated and kicked it to Tonika Pierce, who missed on a three from the left corner. WCA’s Kiana Batagelj got the offensive rebound and went back up with it but couldn’t hit. Finally, St. Catherine’s Meredith Doswell was fouled in the process of pulling down the rebound and headed to the stripe at the opposite end for a one-and-one with two seconds left. Doswell — who led the Saints with 20 points — hit the first to give the Saints their decisive 56-55 lead before Perkins took a timeout.
“We were trying to wait for the last shot,” Perkins said. “It was a good kickout and she had a good look at it but just didn’t hit it. Whether that was a foul or not is another thing but hey, we wouldn’t have had to worry about it if we’d hit our foul shots.”
Brown’s desperation heave from behind half-court bounced off the backboard and to the floor as the buzzer rang, dropping WCA to 15-5 on the season.
The Eagles had been in command all night, taking an early 22-14 lead minutes into the second quarter. But St. Catherine’s stuck around all night, and a 10-4 Saints run to close the half made it a 33-31 WCA advantage as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
Brown took over at the start of the second half, scoring seven in the third quarter alone as the Eagles stretched their lead to seven.
“Keyana battled hard,” Perkins said. “She did a good job.”
But once again, WCA allowed St. Catherine’s to get back into things with a 9-3 run capped by a pretty feed from Ali Boswell to her sister Meredith for a slashing layup to close the third.
St. Catherine’s 56 Williamsburg Christian Academy 55
St. Catherine’s- 14 17 16 9
WCA- 20 13 15 7
St. Catherine’s- Jenkins 10, Vaeth 2, Menges 8, M. Doswell 20, A. Doswell 10, Kughn 6. 23; 3-5 56
WCA (15-5) – Pierce 3, Cunningham 3, Seaman 10, Brown 22, Ponzo 10, Batagelj 7. 20; 10-22 55
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