Despite missing their starting center the entire game and losing their starting power forward in the second quarter, Walsingham Academy still controlled the paint and blew by visiting Norfolk Academy for a 56-35 win in the quarterfinals of the Tidewater Conference tournament Tuesday night.
The Trojans didn’t have to look hard to replace the production of Charles Blaha and Braden Sutton — who suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter — as the night belonged to Brandon LaRose and Billy Barnes, who finished with 22 and 17, respectively.
LaRose took advantage of Norfolk’s lack of size down low, getting to the basket with ease and finding little resistance when he got there, while Barnes stretched the defense with three three-pointers.
“Billy had a really good game,” Walsingham head coach Billy Barnes said. “Not just shooting the ball but he was guarding the other team’s best player.”
Another key difference was fouls, as Walsingham reached the bonus with just over 4 minutes left in the first half and then again near the end of the third quarter. And when they got to the line, the Trojans made the most of it, hitting 19 of their 24 attempts from the stripe while the Bulldogs went just 5 of 11.
“We came out with a lot of mental toughness and intensity tonight,” the younger Barnes said. “We were down a starter tonight and another starter went down in the first quarter and guys really stepped up.”
Walsingham got right to it in the first with Sutton, LaRose and Barnes scoring early to put the Trojans up 7-0 and ultimately 15-5. Sutton had already made an impact with four early rebounds and two points but was forced to sit midway through the quarter with an ankle injury. He wouldn’t return until the third, when he was barely mobile in the few minutes he appeared.
Shawn Simmons did all he could to keep Norfolk in it, knocking down a contested jump shot from the elbow to cut the deficit to 6, where it would eventually stay until the end of the first. He would finish with a team-high 13 points.
In the second, the Trojans really began to pull away as LaRose poured in nine and Walsingham outscored Norfolk 16-6 to go to halftime with a comfortable 33-17 advantage.
Things only got worse for the Bulldogs in the third when Walsingham’s Thomas Chisam picked off a Norfolk pass and got it to LaRose for an open-court dunk to make it 41-23 and force NA coach Eric Acra to call timeout.
With a 22-point lead and 2:05 to play in the quarter, the Trojans began to play keep away, not attacking the basket but passing the ball around to burn clock. But that was only a prelude to the bizarre scene that played out at the start of the fourth with the Trojans in command up 49-27.
With its starters still on the floor, Walsingham got the ball first and promptly began to hold it just past the half-court line. And instead of telling his players to foul or try to come up with a steal, Norfolk head coach Eric Acra instructed his squad — at this point mainly second-stringers and seniors playing in their final game — to back off. So for three whole minutes to start of the quarter, both teams stood around while the Norfolk supporters voiced their discontent.
“I think [coach Barnes] wanted to work on some stuff and I wanted to make sure our seniors got plenty of minutes because it was their last game,” Acra said. “But with our group if we were going to match up against them it was going to be a highlight reel for them. And I didn’t want to do that to my guys, so we stayed back.
It wasn’t until Acra finally gave the signal with five minutes to play that LaRose was forced into the lane, drew a foul and hit a finger-roll for a three-point play, putting the Trojans up 51-27.
“All the credit goes to Walsingham,” Acra said. “They took us out of a rhythm and didn’t let us do our stuff and that’s all to their credit. I wish I could say it was because they put a hex on our basket or it was too small, but they did a really nice job D’ing up on us.”
With the win, third-seeded Walsingham advances to Friday’s semifinals when it will face No. 2 Norfolk Christian at 7 p.m. at Hampton Roads Academy
Walsingham 56 Norfolk Academy35
Walsingham Academy: 17 16 16 7 – 56
Norfolk Academy: 11 6 10 8 – 35
Walsingham – Kissoon 5, LaRosa 22, Sanderson 2, Brown 2, Barnes 17, Sutton 2, Chisam 6. Totals 19-24 16; 56.
Norfolk – Kal 6, Markey 4, Simmons 13, Holmes 2, McLendon 4, Washington 2, Plumlee 4. Totals 5-11 14; 35.
