By the time Hampton Roads Academy leading scorer K.J. Steinthorsson sank his first bucket of the game, the Navigators had already found themselves in a 30-point hole with barely three minutes left in regulation.
A balanced scoring attack and stifling defense was the formula as Walsingham Academy’s boys basketball team opened Tidewater Conference play with a 66-35 victory over rival HRA Friday night.
Miguel Kissoon led all scorers with 15 points, Brandon LaRose finished with 12 and Charles Blaha added 11. LaRose also highlighted an outstanding defensive effort by the Trojans, holding Navigators’ senior standout Steinthorsson to 1-8 shooting (0-4 3PT) from the field.
Blaha (11 points, 6 rebounds) and Billy Barnes (9 points 3-4 3PT, 7 rebounds) also did a solid job on the glass limiting HRA’s second-chance points.
“I thought our defense was really good tonight,” Walsingham head coach Billy Barnes said after the game. “Brandon did a nice job on [Steinthorsson] being cognizant of the fact we didn’t want he, or anyone for that matter, to touch the ball.
“I thought we sputtered a little offensively early but got better as the game went on. The balance (scoring) is what we’re all about.”
LaRose got Walsingham’s fans roaring right out of the gate as he took Braden Sutton’s pass off the opening tip straight to the rack for a two-handed dunk.
Kissoon sparked the Trojans’ defense early with two of his game-high five steals that each went for easy layups on the other end en route to finishing with seven points in the opening period as Walsingham led 14-6.
The second quarter was much of the same as the Trojans’ outscored the host Navigators 15-6 in the period to take a commanding 29-12 lead into halftime. Blaha, a 6’7 forward, took advantage of HRA’s smaller defenders down low and was a force on the glass early finishing with seven points and five rebounds in the first half.
Walsingham opened the second half much like the first as their lead climbed to 22 points following a 5-0 run to start the third quarter.
Trent Topping answered quickly with a 3-pointer of his own on HRA’s ensuing possession, however the Navigators would fall into a 0-7 shooting slump while committing four turnovers over the next three-and-a-half minutes as Walsingham’s lead grew to 30 (45-15).
Steinthorsson’s first points of the game came at the free throw line in the closing minutes of third quarter, but he would remain not a factor until burying his first jumper of the game with 3:03 to play in regulation.
Walsingham, ranked No. 2 in the latest VISAA Division II state poll, improved to 15-2 on the season (1-0 TCIS) with the victory. The loss dropped HRA’s overall record to 10-4 (1-1 TCIS).
“This is always a tough game given the rivalry factor, so it’s definitely a good win to open conference play.”
Walsingham 66 Hampton Roads Academy 35
Walsingham- 14 15 20 17 – 66
Hampton Roads Ac.- 6 6 9 14 – 35
Walsingham (15-2, 1-0 TCIS)- Kissoon 15, LaRose 12, Blaha 11, Barnes 9, Sutton 7, Brown 5, Krass 4, Chisam 2, Patel 1. Totals 23 15-24; 66.
HRA (10-4, 1-1 TCIS)- Mock 8, Schwarting 7, Bateman 5, Steinthorsson 4, Topping 3, Phillips 2, Hill 2. Totals 13 7-10; 35.
Lady Navigators Cruise
Perhaps Walsingham’s boys were taking defensive ‘how to’ notes while watching the front end of Friday’s double-header at Hampton Roads Academy.
On the strength of suffocating defensive pressure that forced Walsingham into 26 turnovers, Hampton Roads Academy’s girls basketball team improved to 2-0 in the Tidewater Conference after cruising past the visiting Trojans 58-30 in the first of two rivalry showdowns inside HRA’s Charles R. Spener Jr. gymnasium.
The Navigators (10-2, 2-0 TCIS), led by junior star Braysia Hicks’ 18 points, opened up a 37-14 lead at the half while limiting the Trojans to just four first-half field goals, three of which scored by leading scorer Charnissa Chillers (15 points), who provided 50 percent of Walsingham’s scoring output.
Hicks dominated early getting into the paint almost at will off the dribble before either pulling up for the short jumper or finishing at the rim. She scored seven of the game’s first 11 points as HRA jumped out to a 9-2 lead.
Walsingham (7-2, 0-1 TCIS) was rarely able to settle into an offensive set as the Navigators’ full-court pressure often times got the best of the Trojans’ young, albeit talented, ball handlers.
The Trojans coughed up 17 turnovers in the first half alone and never recovered from the early deficit.
“Defense is what we always want to start with,” HRA head coach Laura Stoner said afterwards. “Good offense comes from good defense, and we knew coming in that their strengths are their guard spots, so we really wanted to make sure we pressure the ball, and I thought we did a really good job of that in the beginning.”
HRA, on the other hand, got excellent guard play from Hicks and speedy Rachel Lia, an eighth-grader and former Walsingham student, who chipped in with 16 points.
Walsingham’s young backcourt tandem of sophomore Ashley Barnes (11 points) and Christine McBeath found their strokes in the fourth quarter, but it was far too late as HRA’s lead had already exceeded 30 points entering the final eight minutes.
Coming off a 76-6 shellacking of Peninsula Catholic to open their TCIS slate last week, Stoner says she’s pleased with how her team has opened conference play.
“We’re pleased with where we are,” Stoner said. “Walsingham is a quality opponent, they’ve improved a lot, so we were focused coming in. But we still have a tough road ahead of us.”
Hampton Roads Academy 58 Walsingham 30
Hampton Roads Ac.- 13 24 13 8 – 58
Walsingham Ac.- 6 8 5 11 – 30
HRA (10-2)- Hicks 18, Lia 16, Velez 8, Spence 7, DeChirico 4, Ross 3, Lawson 2. Totals 23 5-8; 58.
Walsigham (7-2)- Chillers 15, Barnes 11, McBeath 4. Totals 9 9-16; 30.
