Streaks Erase TA, 56-40
Posted: February 12, 2013
HARRISONBURG — Keyana Whitley-Duncan said she thought the game was “too close.” So the Harrisonburg High School point guard fixed it.
With Turner Ashby on the verge of taking its first lead, Whitley-Duncan scored eight straight points to stretch a tie game to an eight-point HHS lead, spurring the Blue Streaks to a 56-40 win over TA in the first round of the Valley District girls’ basketball tournament Monday to secure a regional bid.
“I knew we had to turn it up somehow,” Whitley-Duncan said. “We had to do something.”
Whitley-Duncan scored a game-high 20 points, making seven of 13 free throws, before fouling out late in the fourth quarter of an ugly game marred by too many fouls. The two teams combined for 43 — 21 in the first half and 22 in the second.
“It was kind of sloppy, because we were playing really nervous, because we didn’t want it to be our last game,” Whitley-Duncan said. “We were just really, really nervous, basically.”
The 5-foot-3 senior had 10 points in the third quarter, most of which came by attacking the basket and either finishing or getting to the line.
“I actually said to my assistant coach, Pierre Curtis, right before that happened: ‘We’re in good shape. Keyana’s not going to let us lose this game,’” first-year HHS coach Bill Bayer said. “You could just see it in her eyes. … She was just so focused, played unselfish, just wanted to take over, was aggressive and kept her teammates involved with some great passes.”
Junior guard/forward Sydney Knupp added 14 points for the Streaks (10-9), who face Broadway today at 6 p.m. in the second round of the district tournament’s Division 4 bracket at Spotswood High School. The winner faces the Division 3 bracket champ Friday at 6 p.m.
Knupp went 12-for-14 from the free-throw line and helped maintain HHS’s double-digit lead in the fourth quarter with her foul shooting.
Harrisonburg clinched its berth in the Region III, D-4 tournament by winning Monday.
“We have an expectation that tomorrow night we’ll give Broadway a good game and see what happens in the district semifinals,” Bayer said. “And then we will definitely be prepared for next Monday night, regardless of who we play. I think the kids are really pretty pumped up and pretty excited to have made it to regionals.”
The Knights (2-21) are done, missing the regional tournament for the second straight season after a dominating run through the last decade.
But TA, despite its record, still came close to securing a regional bid. The Knights, after trailing by as many as 10 in the first half, went on an 18-8 run to tie the game at 29-29 with 4:20 left in the third quarter when sophomore Savannah Witt scored underneath. She led TA with seven points.
Then Whitley-Duncan took over. First, she hit a 3-pointer to give HHS the lead, as the Streaks closed the third quarter on a 12-2 run. The Blue Streaks never trailed.
“What also makes her tough is you can’t really play off her very far and play the drive, because she can also hit the 3,” Turner Ashby coach Rob Lovell said. “You know, you tell your kids to try to do their best to stay between her and the basket, but she’s really good at creating her own shot and hats off to Harrisonburg. I didn’t think our kids necessarily played poorly tonight — just Harrisonburg’s got a couple more offensive weapons than we do.”
TURNER ASHBY
Sheffer 1 1-2 3, Dean 3 0-2 6, Keeley 1 1-3 4, Bosley 1 4-4 6, LaPrade 2 0-0 4, Wood 1 4-6 6, Witt 2 3-4 7, Moyer 2 0-0 4. Totals 13 13-21 40.
HARRISONBURG
Whitley-Duncan 6 7-13 20, Hofacker 2 2-4 8, Knupp 1 12-14 14, Shenk-Moreno 4 1-2 9, Allen 2 0-0 5, Brooks 0 0-2 0, Smith 0 0-2 0. Totals 15 22-37 56.
Turner Ashby 9 11 11 9 - 40
Harrisonburg 11 14 16 15 - 56
3-Point Goals—Turner Ashby 1 (Keeley), Harrisonburg 4 (Hofacker 2, Allen 1, Whitley-Duncan 1). Fouled Out—Turner Ashby (Dean), Harrisonburg (Whitley-Duncan). Total Fouls—Turner Ashby 25, Harrisonburg 18.
With Turner Ashby on the verge of taking its first lead, Whitley-Duncan scored eight straight points to stretch a tie game to an eight-point HHS lead, spurring the Blue Streaks to a 56-40 win over TA in the first round of the Valley District girls’ basketball tournament Monday to secure a regional bid.
“I knew we had to turn it up somehow,” Whitley-Duncan said. “We had to do something.”
Whitley-Duncan scored a game-high 20 points, making seven of 13 free throws, before fouling out late in the fourth quarter of an ugly game marred by too many fouls. The two teams combined for 43 — 21 in the first half and 22 in the second.
“It was kind of sloppy, because we were playing really nervous, because we didn’t want it to be our last game,” Whitley-Duncan said. “We were just really, really nervous, basically.”
The 5-foot-3 senior had 10 points in the third quarter, most of which came by attacking the basket and either finishing or getting to the line.
“I actually said to my assistant coach, Pierre Curtis, right before that happened: ‘We’re in good shape. Keyana’s not going to let us lose this game,’” first-year HHS coach Bill Bayer said. “You could just see it in her eyes. … She was just so focused, played unselfish, just wanted to take over, was aggressive and kept her teammates involved with some great passes.”
Junior guard/forward Sydney Knupp added 14 points for the Streaks (10-9), who face Broadway today at 6 p.m. in the second round of the district tournament’s Division 4 bracket at Spotswood High School. The winner faces the Division 3 bracket champ Friday at 6 p.m.
Knupp went 12-for-14 from the free-throw line and helped maintain HHS’s double-digit lead in the fourth quarter with her foul shooting.
Harrisonburg clinched its berth in the Region III, D-4 tournament by winning Monday.
“We have an expectation that tomorrow night we’ll give Broadway a good game and see what happens in the district semifinals,” Bayer said. “And then we will definitely be prepared for next Monday night, regardless of who we play. I think the kids are really pretty pumped up and pretty excited to have made it to regionals.”
The Knights (2-21) are done, missing the regional tournament for the second straight season after a dominating run through the last decade.
But TA, despite its record, still came close to securing a regional bid. The Knights, after trailing by as many as 10 in the first half, went on an 18-8 run to tie the game at 29-29 with 4:20 left in the third quarter when sophomore Savannah Witt scored underneath. She led TA with seven points.
Then Whitley-Duncan took over. First, she hit a 3-pointer to give HHS the lead, as the Streaks closed the third quarter on a 12-2 run. The Blue Streaks never trailed.
“What also makes her tough is you can’t really play off her very far and play the drive, because she can also hit the 3,” Turner Ashby coach Rob Lovell said. “You know, you tell your kids to try to do their best to stay between her and the basket, but she’s really good at creating her own shot and hats off to Harrisonburg. I didn’t think our kids necessarily played poorly tonight — just Harrisonburg’s got a couple more offensive weapons than we do.”
TURNER ASHBY
Sheffer 1 1-2 3, Dean 3 0-2 6, Keeley 1 1-3 4, Bosley 1 4-4 6, LaPrade 2 0-0 4, Wood 1 4-6 6, Witt 2 3-4 7, Moyer 2 0-0 4. Totals 13 13-21 40.
HARRISONBURG
Whitley-Duncan 6 7-13 20, Hofacker 2 2-4 8, Knupp 1 12-14 14, Shenk-Moreno 4 1-2 9, Allen 2 0-0 5, Brooks 0 0-2 0, Smith 0 0-2 0. Totals 15 22-37 56.
Turner Ashby 9 11 11 9 - 40
Harrisonburg 11 14 16 15 - 56
3-Point Goals—Turner Ashby 1 (Keeley), Harrisonburg 4 (Hofacker 2, Allen 1, Whitley-Duncan 1). Fouled Out—Turner Ashby (Dean), Harrisonburg (Whitley-Duncan). Total Fouls—Turner Ashby 25, Harrisonburg 18.