Thursday’s Group 4A girls state basketball final between William Fleming and Lake Taylor at the VCU Siegel Center in Richmond was a game of scoring runs.
Unfortunately for the Colonels, Lake Taylor got the last say.
Playing from behind most of the evening, Fleming went on a 10-1 run midway through the fourth quarter to close to within 51-50 with 3:03 left. But, Lake Taylor scored the game’s final six points off layups to secure the 57-50 championship win, ending Fleming’s bid to capture the school’s first girls basketball state title.
The Lady Colonels gave Lake Taylor, last year’s Group AAA state champs, a run for their money to the final buzzer in a game dominated by physical play and bodies sprawled on the hardwood.
“It was a very intense game,” Colonel head coach Champ Hubbard said while addressing the media after the contest. “Hats off to Lake Taylor. I think their experience (was the difference) over our inexperience in this game. It’s a big-time championship game.”
Both teams fought off poor shooting and turnovers throughout. Lake Taylor hit only 31.3% from the field and struggled with a woeful 8-of-23 from the free throw line. Fleming, likewise, had trouble finding its rhythm, going 18-62 (29%) from the field and 8-of-17 from the charity stripe. Hubbard noted the challenges of the high-contact affair.
“Our goal was to get the ball inside,” he noted. “We just didn’t finish the shots. Lake Taylor came in as state champs and we knew there would be contact. You have to play through it. The last two games (here and last Saturday against Woodrow Wilson) there’s been smacking and grabbing. It’s not an excuse, bur we weren’t used to it.”
Lake Taylor coach Saundra Sawyer said her team had to use their speed and quickness to overcome the size advantage Fleming owned.
“We had no other choice,” Sawyer noted of her team’s swarming style at both ends. “We just can’t let them come down (the court) and throw it to their big girl. It was like playing chess. You make your move, we make ours.”
Lake Taylor rolled out to a 13-8 lead after one quarter and went up 19-10 after a Carlesha Farris 3-pointer at the 6-minute mark of the second. Fleming answered with a 9-0 run to ties things at 19, capped off by Antavia Stevens’ strike from behind-the-arc two minutes later.Fleming took its first 3-point lead of the game when Desiree Keeling’s score in the paint put the Colonels up 23-20 with 3:13 left. Lake Taylor would score the final 4 points of the quarter to go to the halftime break up 24-23.
The Lady Titans scored the first seven points to start the second half for a 31-23 advantage, but Fleming came roaring back with an 8-2 run, helped in part by a pair of Gracie Doane 3-pointers and Nadjae Stokes layup. The Lady Colonels would again go up by three with 38 seconds left in the third and were ahead 40-39 after a Myesha Logan free throw with 6.4 seconds left. Lake Taylor then turned things around in stunning fashion.
The Lady Titans rushed the ball over mid court where Endia McKinney’s heave at the buzzer found nothing but twine. Lake Taylor led 42-40 with 8 minutes to go.
“We call it our 6-second play,” McKinney said. “We play it every day in practice. I looked up and saw one second on the clock. Coach said, ‘Shoot it !’ So I just stopped and threw it up. With Stevens on the Fleming bench with four fouls, Lake Taylor scored 8 points in the first minute of the fourth as Fleming struggled to get the ball up court.
But, with an animated Hubbard encouraging his girls from the sideline, Fleming outscored the Titans 10-1 over the next four minutes. Down the stretch, the Colonels couldn’t find one last miracle.
“We wanted to win,” Hubbard noted. “These young ladies have committed themselves all year. We needed to get a 4 or 5 point lead. We knew that if Lake Taylor kept the lead they were in control.”
Stevens, Doane and Keeling each finished with 11 points for Fleming (22-7). Keeling and Doane brought down 15 and 10 boards, respectfully, for the Colonels.
Joanne Williams scored a game-high 15 points for Lake Taylor while McKinney added 14 and Taylor Whitley 13 points for the Titans.
Bill Turner
