Saturday’s Virginia Independent Schools Division II state championship between No. 2 Williamsburg Christian Academy and No. 4 Norfolk Christian Academy epitomized the meaning of a defensive struggle.
Earlier in the month, the two teams met in Norfolk for a non-conference showdown and put 142 points in the scoreboard with WCA coming out on top 79-63.
It was evident from the start that both sides made significant adjustments from that matchup as Saturday’s championship played out in completely opposite fashion before the Ambassadors, coming off an energetic win over top-seeded Miller School in Friday’s semifinals, held on for a 36-31 victory and their first state title since 2009.
“We knew we had to make adjustments from the first meeting, and we expected them to do the same, but I don’t think anyone expected it to play out quite that way,” first-year Norfolk Christian coach Curtis Turner said after the game. “We kind of took on that David vs. Goliath mentality because everyone thought Miller was the team to beat, and that win really motivated our girls to come in today and finish the job.”
It was a tightly-contested game throughout as neither side ever went ahead by more than seven points, but nothing about the contest was ordinary for either team.
NCA’s top two scorers, seniors Latrice Hunter (10 points) and Danielle Webster (15 points) finished well below their 20-plus point season scoring averages, while WCA’s top scoring threat Keyana Brown was limited to 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half. Brown, a junior, entered the game needing 11 points to reach 2,000 for her career, and became the first WCA player ever to accomplish the feat.
The low-scoring affair can be attributed to exceptionally executed zone defense by both teams.
NCA remained in a staggering 3-2 zone that looked more like a 1-2-2 set all game with the focus on keeping Brown out of the paint, but Turner said he also emphasized stretching his players out to the perimeter in hopes of containing WCA’s many 3-point shooters.
WCA also played an altered 3-2 zone that effectively kept Hunter and Webster from getting any sort of offensive rhythm going, but it was the offensive woes that clearly plagued the Eagles’ hopes of a second-consecutive state championship.
“It’s like I told the girls, defensively we did everything we needed to do,” WCA coach John Perkins said. “Offensively we just couldn’t hit anything. They played a good scrambling defense, which pressured us into some mistakes and rushing shots, but ultimately it came down to just not hitting our shots, and that happens sometimes.
“But I’m really proud of my team. They played 39 games this season and won 31 of them. Plus, this is our fourth state-championship game in a row, which is something most teams never get to experience. I told them they have nothing to hang their heads about.”
WCA started slow shooting just 2-11 from the field in the first period and turned the ball over four times as Norfolk Christian led 10-6.
WCA seemed poised to take control to start the second quarter behind Brown, who opened the period with two 3’s and a layup to put the Eagles ahead 14-10. Tonika Pierce then stepped in front of Hunter to draw a charge in the lane, and on the Eagles ensuing possession, Pierce buried a 3 from the corner to give WCA all the momentum as well as a 17-10 lead — the largest either side would see all game.
But from there, the Eagles’ offense went completely stagnant as they were held scoreless the remaining three-and-a-half minutes of the quarter and turned the ball over on four of their final six possessions of the half.
The Ambassadors would close the half with a 7-0 run thanks to aggressive play inside from Nicole Lester, who scored the final two buckets off stick-backs as the score was 17-all at the break.
The inability to solve either team’s defense continued in the third quarter as there were a total of nine points on three-made field goals combined. Webster was fouled going for a layup with one second remaining in the third quarter and went 2-2 from the charity stripe to put Norfolk Christian ahead 22-21 heading into the final eight minutes.
Norfolk Christian never relinquished the lead in the fourth quarter, but a gutsy effort from freshman Stephanie Seaman kept WCA close.
After Webster opened the quarter with a deep 3 to stretch Norfolk Christian’s lead to five, 25-21, Seaman answered with a trey of her own to bring WCA back within one, 25-24.
After Hunter and Lester added back-to-back buckets to put Norfolk Christian back up five, 29-24, Seaman answered with another long ball to trim the deficit to two, 29-27.
Norfolk Christian would again go up by five, 32-27, on Webster’s second 3 of the quarter, but Seaman came up with another huge play with two minutes left in regulation after a nice back-door pass from Brown led to an and-one layup for Seaman to make it a one possession game, 32-30.
After Webster missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:40 to play, WCA called a timeout, but gave the ball right back after an errant pass was scooped up by Webster, who hit 2-2 at the other end.
With a little under a minute to play, Pierce was fouled on a layup attempt and hit 1-2 free-throw attempts to make it a three-point game, 34-31, but Hunter would connect on pair from the line with 22 seconds remaining to put the game away.
Hunter and Webster, who will continue their playing careers at William and Mary and UNC Charlotte, respectively, were poised to end a four-year state-championship drought dating back to their freshman seasons.
For WCA, the future remains bright. Of the 10 players on the roster, eight will return next season, including all five starters.
“A game like this definitely makes us want to win it even more next year,” Seaman said. “Even if we move up to Division I, we’re going to have that same hunger we played with last year after losing [in the championship game] two years in a row.”
Norfolk Christian Academy 36, Williamsburg Christian Academy 31
NCA- 10 7 5 14 – 36
WCA- 6 11 4 10 – 31
NCA- Webster 15, Hunter 10, Lester 8, Bondi 3. Totals 12 8-11; 36.
WCA- Brown 12, Seaman 12, Pierce 4, Strong 2, Ponzo 1. Totals 11 3-5; 31.
