PETERSBURG – Nine times out of 10 the shot would have fallen.
With No. 3 Walsingham Academy trailing No. 2 Christchurch by two, 60-58, and three seconds left in regulation of Friday evening’s VISAA Division II semifinal at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Trojans coach Billy Barnes called a timeout and drew up a play for his senior star Brandon LaRose.
Out of the timeout, LaRose made the correct adjustment to save a partially broken inbounds play, according to Barnes, and came off a curl at the top of the key, received the ball and began driving through the lane. After Christchurch’s 6’7 standout Devin Robinson elevated to contest, LaRose beautifully switched to his left hand in midair, but his finger roll bounced off the left side of the rim and fell to the floor as time expired.
“It’s tough to swallow,” LaRose said after the game. “I’ve made that same shot 1,000 times. [Robinson] is a tall guy, so I was trying to avoid the block and get around him … It just didn’t fall.”
Added Barnes, “Sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn’t. The play was kind of dead, and Brandon made a great move to improvise. We didn’t lose the game because of that shot. We missed a lot of chippies in the second half that we usually make, so you could point a finger at a number of reasons.
“But I’m proud of this group for never giving up and fighting.”
LaRose’s attempt capped off an exhilarating back-and-fourth final quarter in which neither side went ahead by more than four points and saw four lead changes.
Walsingham entered the fourth period down by three, 51-48, but quickly climbed back to take a one-point lead (52-51) after Charles Blaha cleaned up a missed shot inside followed by Miguel Kissoon’s pull-up jumper.
Christchurch’s Justin Peebles later hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Seahorses on top 57-55, and they extended their lead to four (59-55) off Nick Douglas’ layup.
With 1:32 to play, Kissoon knocked down a huge 3 from the wing to bring Walsingham back within one, and the Trojans tied the game with 55 seconds left after LaRose connected on one of two attempts from the free-throw line.
With 34 seconds left in regulation, Christchurch’s Brendan Cole, who led the Seahorses with a game-high 18 points, drove the line and found Robinson under the hoop for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning bucket.
The biggest difference in the game was Christchurch’s 12-2 run to open the second half after Walsingham led 39-33 at the break.
The Trojans, who led the entire first half, came out of halftime sluggish and shot just 1-10 to open the third quarter. That helped Christchurch climb back to take their first lead of the game on, coincidentally, Robinson’s first points of the game, a high-arching trey from the corner to put the Seahorses on top 41-39.
“They hit a lot of shots to start the third, they were pretty much on fire, but we were not answering on the other end,” Barnes said. “That really deflated our guys and took away some of our confidence.
Things couldn’t have started any better for Walsingham as the Trojans jumped out to a 11-2 lead in the opening minutes behind the aggressive play inside from the undersized but often-scrappy Braden Sutton, who showed no lingering effects of an ankle injury that sidelined him during Wednesday’s quarterfinal victory over Atlantic Shores, and Blaha.
Sutton opened the game with a 3 from the wing before Blaha followed with a long jumper of his own for five quick Walsingham points, but the frontcourt tandem mostly thrived inside off second-chance points combining for 15 of the Trojans 17 points in the opening period as the Trojans led 17-14 after one.
After being held scoreless in the first eight minutes LaRose, Walsingham’s leading scorer, got going with an and-one layup to start the second period. He finished the quarter with seven points, as did Sutton, who was the first-half spark with 14 points as the Trojans went into the break 39-33.
Perhaps the underlying story of the first half, though, was Walsingham’s defense.
Robinson, Christchurch’s best player who has multiple Division I offers from schools such as Virginia Tech, University of Connecticut and Rutgers, was held scoreless during the first two quarters by LaRose, while Seahorses’ sharp-shooter Julian Reed was marked tightly by Walsingham junior guard Billy Barnes and held without a field goal.
Brendan Cole picked up the slack for Christchurch with 13 first-half points before finishing with a game-high 18.
LaRose and Sutton led five Walsingham players in scoring with 14 apiece. Kissoon, Blaha and Barnes each finished with 10.
Christchurch 60 Walsingham 58
Christchurch- 14 19 18 9 – 60
Walsingham- 17 22 9 10 – 58
Christchurch- Cole 18, Wallace 11, Robinson 10, Reed 8, Peebles 6, Douglas 5, Horbal 2. Totals 23 5-6; 60.
Walsingham- LaRose 14, Sutton 14, Kissoon 10, Blaha 10, Barnes 10. Totals 25 5-6; 58.
