Despite going down briefly with a knee injury midway through the second quarter, Kenya Holiday toughed out a season-high 30 points for Lafayette in a win against Smithfield on Wednesday.
Lafayette (6-1, 5-1 Bay Rivers District) trailed Smithfield 26-22 heading into the half. The second-half outlook seemed bleak for the Rams with Holiday’s health lingering as an unknown. Holiday, a junior, put all doubts about her health to rest as soon as the third quarter started.
“She kneed me in my knee,” Holiday said. “I mean, it hurt, but I had to play for my team. I had to get out there to work with my team to get the win.”
Of Holiday’s 30 points on the night, 21 came in the second half. Holiday’s greatest feat of the night — excluding her final point total — was a fitting 3-pointer from 10 feet behind the 3-point arc as time expired in the third quarter.
That buzzer-beating shot was proof once more Holiday was not to be denied.
Assisting her on the evening was sophomore Rachel Lia, a transfer from Hampton Roads Academy. Lia and Holiday controlled the offense with one of the two handling the ball up court to start each possession.
The teamwork shone through in transition when Lia would hit a sprinting Holiday in stride for an easy basket — a situation that happened multiple times throughout the game.
Not one to steal the spotlight, Holiday stressed that in a hard-fought win, the team is the most important thing.
“We were playing as a team and we all had each others back,” Holiday said. “We were out there hustling as a team. It just came together and we won as a team.”
Megan Wiltshire and Jill Curtis each played important roles in the win. Wiltshire found her niche in the game by spotting up for corner 3-pointers in transition, of which she drilled two. Curtis was a force in the post by playing scrappy defense and fighting to keep offensive rebounds alive.
It was an admitted much-needed win for Lafayette, who came off a disappointing 19-point loss to Poquoson three days earlier.
“Everything about our last loss was not acceptable,” Lia said. “It made us even more hungry and ready to get this win.”
Smithfield’s (3-4, 3-3) Shannon Atkinson would have likely been the headline on any other night. Atkinson scored 23 points for the Packers, most of which came in the second half.
Atkinson was a force in the post, repeatedly drawing fouls to get to the free-throw stripe. She was so effective, both Curtin and Raven Blake fouled out of the game trying to defend her.
“Our plan against her was just to box out and to try to get her in foul trouble,” Holiday said. “I feel like we did a good job overall of boxing her out and keeping her away from the basket.”
Lafayette 60, Smithfield 53
Lafayette (6-1, 5-1 Bay Rivers District)
Wiltshire 6, Dwyer 2, Lia 12, Holiday 30, Blake 4, Curtis 6.
Smithfield (3-4, 3-3)
Perera 3, Cypross 3, Brooks 10, Allmond 6, Atkinson 23, Johnson 8.
Lafayette — 13 9 23 15 — 60
Smithfield — 8 16 8 19 — 53
3-point goals — Lafayette 3 (Wiltshire 2, Holiday), Smithfield 3 (Perera, Brooks, Allmond)
York Uses Stellar Second Quarter To Rout Jamestown
Madison Van Dyke scored a team-high 17 points to help the Falcons take flight against the Eagles.
York took over the game in the second quarter to win 61-44. The offensive explosion helped give the Falcons a 17-point halftime lead.
Rakeema Willis helped pace York (2-4, 2-4 Bay Rivers District) with 14 points.
Jamiyah Johnson of Jamestown (1-5, 1-5) led all scorers with 28 points.
York 61, Jamestown 44
York (2-4, 2-4 Bay Rivers District)
Harris 2, Van Dyke 17, Nagase 1, Cooley 2, Winfree 6, Shoats 2, Willis 14, Sanders 6, Sellers 7, Horner 4.
Jamestown (1-5, 1-5)
Johnson 28, Hudson 2, Hard 4, Knotts 4, Q. Harris 7.
York — 11 22 17 11 — 61
Jamestown — 12 4 17 9 — 44
3-point goals — Jamestown 1 (Knotts)
Briana Harper and Madison Clemons, who scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, helped lead Tabb (4-4, 4-2 Bay Rivers District) to a resounding 53-26 win over Bruton.
Tamia Smith chipped in 12 points for the Tigers.
The most impressive aspect of the game for Tabb was its stingy defense, which held Bruton to nine second-half points.
Gabby Calloway was the only York (3-4, 2-4) player to get in any sort of offensive rhythm with 14 points.
Tabb 53, Bruton 26
Tabb (4-4, 4-2 Bay Rivers District)
Harper 16, Macfarlane 2, Smith 12, Clemons 15, Eastep 2, McDowell 6.
Bruton (3-4, 2-4)
Hawkins 2, Calloway 14, Sluss 6, Harrod 2, Johnson 1, Mourning 1.
Tabb — 14 13 13 13 — 53
Bruton — 7 10 4 5 — 26
3-point goals — Tabb 9 (Clemons 5, Harper 3, Smith), Bruton 2 (Calloway, Sluss)
Leading 47-41 with a minute to play, Grafton’s victory seemed all but certain until Warhill (6-1, 5-1 Bay Rivers District) scraped together a 6-0 run to close regulation.
Warhill turned on the jets and never looked back once the extra period started, outscoring Grafton (5-3, 4-2) by a 12-5 margin.
Warhill 59, Grafton 52
