Quantico Sentry
Quantico VA | February 24, 2012
In their final regular season game, the Quantico Middle/High School Lady Warriors traveled to Fredericksburg to face Saint Michael the Archangel High School Warriors on Feb. 15.
The Quantico Warriors ended their season with a victory, beating Saint Michaels, 47-30.
“They can win,” said Paul Roy, head coach for Quantico, before the game. “But it all depends on what they want to do and what frame of mind they’re in. It usually takes us awhile to get going in the beginning of an away game, but we can’t afford to do that in this one.”
“We feel great,” said Amy Smith, head coach for Saint Michaels. “It’s our last regular season game and the girls are very excited. It should be a great game.”
For the first four minutes the game was uneventful. Neither team was making their shots, not due to good defense but just lack of offense.
But then, Sydney, a sophomore player for Quantico, took a jumper from the middle of the key and put the first points on the board. Quantico followed with two fast breaks that turned in to layups, putting them up 6-0.
Saint Michaels tried to put up a better defense but Quantico refused to give up possession until a shot was made.
After a 12-0 run, Saint Michaels finally scored with a layup. It looked bad for
Saint Michaels until they went on the attack, making a 3-pointer and multiple back-to-back layups.
Within a little over a minute of play they had caught up with the Quantico Warriors.
At the end of the quarter, Quantico was up 13-12.
“They are killing us under the basket,” Roy said. “We have to trap them, but don’t foul.”
Using momentum from the first quarter, Saint Michaels blocked two of Quantico’s initial shots. But Quantico didn’t let that get them down. Keeping their heads in the game, Crystal and Marquis, two sophomore players for Quantico, stole the ball followed by a fast break, one after the other.
“Put pressure on them,” Smith told her Saint Michaels team. “I don’t want them getting anymore easy baskets.”
Saint Michaels began to close the holes in their defense to prevent the easy shots. But that made Quantico more aggressive and attack the boards with more intensity.
By the end of the half, Quantico had extended their lead to 26-14.
“We had them for a while but we keep letting them right back in the game,” Roy said. “Their key player has made 8 of their 12 points. I do not want her to continue scoring.”
To Roy’s disappointment, Saint Michaels came out scoring one 3-pointer followed by an easy layup, going on a 6-0 run. Quantico was persistent when it came to getting the rebounds but was not able to get the ball in the basket.
Soon the pace of the quarter felt like the beginning of the game, where neither team could score or both teams would score one after the other, as if they were just too evenly matched.
At the end of the half, Quantico was still in the lead 38-23.
We’re doing a good job,” Roy said. “Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing out there and make sure we keep working the press because it works.”
Quantico kept their defense up and the pressure was getting to the Saint Michaels’ players as they couldn’t get anywhere near the paint and were forced to shoot outside of their range. Meanwhile, Quantico played it cool on offense, biding their time while concentrating more of their efforts on defense, making sure there was no miracle comeback for Saint Michaels.
With less than three minutes left in the game, Quantico passed the ball around to run down the clock. In Saint Michaels’ last attempt to put some points on the board, their key player made a 3-pointer, but Meghan, a freshman for Quantico, fought right back, stealing the ball and driving it down the court finishing with a layup.
At the end of the game, Quantico beat Saint Michaels 47-30.
“We came out with good intensity,” Roy said. “Even though we didn’t play as physically as we normally do and gave them second-chance shots in the paint, we still kept the pressure on and extended the gap to win by 17 points.”
Quantico faced Saint Michaels yet again Tuesday in the playoffs at Quantico. Quantico won that game, 23-16.