The William Fleming girls basketball team stayed on course Saturday afternoon in the Colonel gym in their quest to capture the Group 4A girls state championship later this week in Richmond.
Facing once-beaten Loudoun County for the 4A North Regional title, you might say the Lady Colonels found a way to get ‘er Doane.
Using two key 3-pointers in the final 1:30 by tenacious Gracie Doane, Fleming pulled away from a tight game for the 62-48 win in a matchup much closer than the final score indicated.
Loudoun County, which entered the game at 25-1 and on a 23-game winning streak, refused to go away despite trailing the Colonels most of the afternoon.
“We knew Loudoun County was good,” Fleming head coach Champ Hubbard said afterward. “We were expecting a tough game.”
Fleming had been on a roll where large margins of victory had become routine for the Colonels.
“You have to prepare for this moment,” Hubbard added. “They exposed some weaknesses we have, so we’ve got things to work on. But, the regional win is big. I’ve always said if it’s by 1 or 100, it’s still a victory.”
Late in the fourth quarter, Raider Elisabeth Gianelos hit both ends of a double-bonus to cut the Fleming lead to 52-46. Doane then buried a bomb from behind-the-arc with 1:30 left, igniting a 10-0 Colonel run down the stretch that included a second they by Doane, who finished with a game-high 18 points.
“I was missing at the beginning,” Doane said at mid court as her supporters poured on congratulations. “I just kept shooting and they started falling. Really, it was a whole team effort and team win.”
Loudoun County scored a final basket with 5.1 seconds left to settle the final margin, but it was too little on an afternoon that saw Fleming win the game on the boards.
The Colonels dominated the rebounding battle 49-16, with offensive boards often leading to second and third chances for Fleming. Ruling the paint at both ends, Lady Colonel Desiree Keeling pulled down 18 rebounds to go along with 13 points.
Mallory Bates poured in 17 points for the Colonels.
Fleming led 18-12 after one quarter before the Raiders responded by going up 23-21 midway through the second on a 3-pointer by Chloe Knox. The Colonels finished on an 8-0 run to go to the break up 29-23.
Loudoun County closed to within 31-29 in the third quarter, but Fleming answered with a 8-3 spurt, including a score at the buzzer by Doane for a 39-32 lead heading to the final frame.
The Colonels went up by 12 early in the fourth, before the last Loudoun County push led to Doane’s heroics.
Alyssa Paige led the Loudoun County scoring with 12 points. The Raiders hit 15-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Fleming now advances to Thursday’s 4A state semifinal at VCU against the Monacan-Midlothian loser in Monday’s 4A South regional final. Loudoun County faces the Monacan-Midlothian winner at 11:45 a.m. Thursday.
“These were two good teams who both cared about winning today,” Loudoun head coach Derek Fisher said. “Our girls showed great effort. If we both win Thursday, we’ll get a rematch. Hopefully, that will happen and we can put together four quarters in the
final.”
Bill Turner
