Broadway’s Stage
BHS Cruises, 60-23
Posted: February 19, 2013
Broadway’s Erin Earhart shoots in front of Harrisonburg’s Sara Shenk-Moreno on Monday at BHS. (Photos by Jason Lenhart / DN-R)
Broadway’s Autumn Bland fights for possession with Harrisonburg’s Sara Shenk-Moreno.
Alger connected on four 3-pointers in No. 3 seed Broadway’s 60-23 win over No. 6 Harrisonburg in Monday’s Region III, Division 4 girls’ basketball quarterfinal, a game BHS completely dominated from the second quarter on.
“I shot a lot last night to get ready for tonight’s game, and my confidence was pretty high tonight,” Alger said.
Broadway advances to play No. 2 seed Lord Botetourt, which had a first-round bye, in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Staunton River High School in Moneta. A win there would clinch the Gobblers’ second straight Division 4 state tournament bid.
On Monday, the Gobblers (18-5) eliminated the Blue Streaks (10-11) by beating them for the fifth straight time, including three wins this season. But the other two margins were 14 points each; this game was much more lopsided.
After Harrisonburg’s Sydney Knupp hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater to end the first quarter, Broadway outscored the Streaks 47-13 the rest of the game, including 30-7 in the second half.
“I thought we played well in all phases of the game,” BHS coach Bobby Mongold said. “To hold anybody to 23 points is pretty good, especially with two explosive scorers they have in Knupp and [Keyana] Whitley-Duncan.”
BHS put together a 13-0 run in the third quarter, to stretch the lead to 46-18, with Alger hitting two 3-pointers in the stretch. Harrisonburg managed just three points against Broadway’s 16 in the period.
“We shot the 3 well, were very good in transition, and did a good job at the free-throw line,” Mongold said. “Alger shooting the ball that well is huge going forward. It really opens up a lot for the rest of our offense.”
A scary moment occurred with 6 minutes, 5 seconds left in the game, when Broadway leading scorer Heather Cantrell landed awkwardly after getting sandwiched by a pair of HHS defenders after a jump shot. The senior remained on the ground for several minutes and came out for the remainder of the game. (Alger entered to attempt the free throws for the Gobblers, hitting both). The score was 48-23 at the time the injury occurred, and both Mongold and Cantrell downplayed it after the game.
“She’s fine,” said Mongold, who admitted he wasn’t sure exactly how the injury occurred. “I honestly think she was more upset than anything else.”
Cantrell scored 16 points and Alger had 14.
“I rebounded the ball, and whichever girl came up behind me grabbed my arm, and someone else pushed me,” Cantrell said of her injury.
Whitley-Duncan led HHS with 12 points. The Streaks had trouble in the second half guarding the quicker Gobblers, picking up 14 second-half fouls to just five for Broadway.
“We couldn’t shoot,” HHS coach Bill Bayer said. “I thought we executed well, and got a lot of open shots, and just couldn’t hit any. They’re a really good team though, and I went and congratulated them after the game, and think they have a really good shot at winning the state championship.”
BHS defeated its next opponent, Lord Botetourt, 73-37 on Dec. 28, but neither Mongold nor his players are putting much stock in that game.
“That was a long time ago,” Mongold said. “That game doesn’t matter now. They’re a different team and so are we.”
“We need to focus on the game at hand, and not think we’re going to crush them just because we did before,” Alger said.
HARRISONBURG
Whitley-Duncan 4 3-4 12, Knupp 1 2-6 5, Shenk-Moreno 1 1-2 3, Smith 1 0-0 2, King 0 1-2 1. Totals 7 7-14 23.
BROADWAY
Morgan 2 2-2 7, Alger 4 2-2 14, Cantrell 4 8-11 16, Zook 1 3-4 5, Earhart 3 2-7 8, Bland 1 0-0 3, Bergan 0 0-2 0, MacDonald 0 2-4 2, Delawder 1 2-2 4, Biller 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 22-36 60.
Harrisonburg 10 6 3 4 — 23
Broadway 13 17 16 14 — 60
3-Point Goals—HHS 2 (Whitley-Duncan, Knupp), BHS 6 (Alger 4, Morgan, Bland). Fouled Out-None. Total Fouls—HHS 25, BHS 9. Rebounds—HHS 24 (Smith 8), BHS 29 (Zook 7).