The Magna Vista girls basketball team resembled the Energizer Bunny Monday night in the Hidden Valley gym.
They just kept going and going.
Unfortunately for the Lady Warriors, Lord Botetourt standout Miette Veldman was always there to drain the battery.
Knocking down 29 points and grabbing 24 rebounds, Veldman kept Magna Vista at bay as Botetourt ground out the hard fought 48-41 win to capture the Girls Region 3D championship.
Clearly at a height disadvantage, Magna Vista kept things interesting all night with speedsters Ta’Nashia Hairston and Kayla Cabiness scoring 19 and 17 points, respectfully.
But with Veldman controlling the glass at both ends, and slicing to the basket on the offensive end that often led to scores or drawing fouls, the Lady Warriors stayed in frustration mode much of the night. Nearly 40 percent of Veldman’s scoring came from an 11-for-12 performance at the free throw line. Botetourt was 18-for-24 from the charity stripe on the night, outscoring the Warriors by 13 at the line.
Despite that roadblock Magna Vista had its chances.
Trailing 11-5 after one quarter, the Lady Warriors fought back to tie the game late in the first half. Tied at 17, Magna Vista had the ball with the opportunity to take the lead before Veldman stole a Warrior pass near midcoast and cruised in for a layup to send the Cavaliers to the break up 19-17.
In the third quarter Botetourt looked poised to open a big lead, but Magna Vista again responded by cutting their deficit to four, 33-29, heading to the final 8 minutes.
The Warriors missed a golden opportunity to tie the game early in the final quarter when, trailing by two, they created a turnover and had a wide open snow bird at the other end. But, the uncontested layup went awry and Botetourt quickly went up by six with 6 minutes remaining.
That’s when Botetourt junior Meredith Wells put the big dagger into the Warrior comeback effort. Attacking on offense, the Lady Cavs went inside, then kicked the ball out to Wells. She buried the 3-pointer from left of the foul circle to put Botetourt up by 9 and it was the icing on the cake to send the Cavs to a state quarterfinal near to home, rumored Monday night to possibly be a matchup at Roanoke College against Charlottesville-area Western Albemarle.
With the loss, Magna Vista will have to travel to East Rockingham High School where they will take on Spotswood in the state quarters.
Veldman’s scoring was complimented by 6 points from Jenna Alam. 5 from Wells and Brooklyn Shelton, with 3 points coming from Scottie Cook.
“It says a lot to not play our best game (yet win), but Magna Vista had a lot to do with that,” Botetourt head coach Chuck Pound noted to the media afterward. “Missing some easy shots and turnovers when we should have taken care of the ball, but working to get through it. In the second half our defense was really good.”
Bill Turner
