Hits: 0
WPCNR CourtSide. By Tim “Red” Sheehan. Exclusive to The CitizeNetReporter. March 18, 2006: Going into last night’s finals against the Section V champion Rush-Henrietta (RH) Royal Comets, at Troy’s Hudson Valley Center, White Plains High School Girls Basketball team needed to contain RH stars Shenise Johnson and Bria Jackson. For the most part, Jackson was contained. But Johnson was a one woman wrecking crew, and led the Royal Comets to a 56-48 victory over the WP Tigers, avenging a three point loss to WP in last year’s semi-finals.
Two Great Seasons to Remember: White Plains High Tigers await the start of a classic final last night. Thanks for the Memories, girls, for the thrills, the heart, the joy. We will never forget the seaons you gave White Plains. You gave it all you had.Photo by Tim Sheehan.
Elise Bronzo scored the games first points, connecting on her patented turn around jumper, and White Plains vaulted to a 14-6 first quarter lead. With Shenise Johnson picking up two quick fouls and grabbing some bench, RH defenders instinctively collapsed on WP post players Bronzo and Danica Covington, leaving WP forward Liz Flooks open all over the court. The result: Flooks for the three, Flooks for the foul line jumper, Flooks for the put back on the offensive rebound. The only bad news of the quarter was Bronzo picking up two fouls as well, and being forced to sit on the bench as well.
Shenise to the Rescue.
In the second quarter, Johnson returned to bolster a shaky RH defense, but White Plains continued to pour it on early with a two Covington lay-ups and a Flooks 3 pointer to take a 21-10 lead. But RH’s Johnson began to show why she was tournament MVP, as she started to unleash her scoring repertoire from the perimeter, sometimes slashing to the hole and other times pulling up for 15 footers that banged home.
Big Huddle, Second Quarter. Photo by Tim Sheehan.
After Johnson’s shake and bake moves started to close the gap, RH’s Melanie Mc Fadden nailed an open 3 pointer to bring RH to within 2 points of WP at halftime, 21-19. It was disconcerting to see a large lead like that squandered, but WP fans were optimistic that this bad stretch would serve as a substitute for their string of third quarter slow starts.
Adjustments Don’t Stop Her. Outside or Inside.
Last year, Johnson tried to muscle in on WP defenders in the paint, only to be pushed out by a tight zone and the arms and legs of Danica Covington. This year, Johnson moved out from underneath the basket, started on the perimeter and proved to be an impossible assignment, torching WP for 30 points. Johnson was just too quick on the open floor to be guarded by Covington, so WP switched to the speedier Kim Adams, but RH countered by posting up Johnson, who muscled in on the lighter defender for two lay-ups. Later in the game, WP tried to have Liz Flooks to defend Johnson, but the damage was already done.
The Tigers Can’t Claw Ahead.
Flooks opened the third quarter with a three pointer and after Johnson hit two free throws, Kim Adams nailed an open 3 pointer from well beyond the top of the key. It seemed that WP had finally said good bye to shaky third quarter starts, opening up a 27 – 21 lead. But two Shenise Johnson jumpers and another McFadden three pointer propelled the Royal Comets to a 28 – 27 lead with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. Though WP valiantly tried through the balance of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth quarter to close the gap, RH did not relinquish the lead from there.
Sandwiched between two Johnson scores, WP managed to get a Bronzo put back and an Aguirre lay-up to close the gap to 32 – 31, but Bria Jackson – denied by WP defenders Aguirre, Nina Johnson or Adams on her cross over moves to the hoop for most of the game – hit her first of two crucial second half three pointers and the RH lead ballooned again. A Bronzo free throw and yet another Flooks jumper closed the gap to 35 – 34, but two quick RH scores pushed the score to 39 – 34. A desperation 3 point shot by Liz Flooks at the buzzer connected to bring WP back to trailing by 2, 39 – 37. WP fans hoped that this shot would propel the team to launch a run in the fourth quarter.
Back to Back Fatigues Tigers.
As it turned out, the Flooks buzzer beater turned out to be a last gasp. Although owning the 4th quarter for much of their playoff run, the back to back nights of 32-minute man to man pressure defense began to take its toll on both the offensive and defensive ends.
On offense, WP shots and free throws began to clank.
Last year, when RH abandoned their man to man defense and went into a zone in the third quarter, the WP offense ate it up, moving the ball quickly around, hit open threes and found our post players down low for easy scores. This year, the fatigued Tigers could not solve the 3-2 Royal Comet zone, which was comprised of pesky and quick defenders on the perimeter and the twin towers (Johnson and 6’3” Evan Riddick) down low. WP drives to the hoop either missed the mark or were blocked by Riddick, while free throws from RH fouls were bricked.
No Defensive Solution for the Scoring Machine.
On defense, the Johnson scoring machine altered the WP defense, as defenders who left their assignment to lend a hand to whomever had to guard Johnson got burned, as other RH players began to hit their shots.
While one could argue that WP could have tried a zone to rest their players and better bottle up Johnson, as WP had pretty much gone with man to man the whole playoff run (and a brief return to the zone against Minisink Valley was disastrous), it was clear that WP players would have to “dance with the defense that brought them” and stay in the man to man set up.
4th Quarter Doom.
With the Comets ahead 39-37 as the 4th quarter opened, Shenise Johnson opened up the 4th quarter with a put back but Elise Bronzo answered with a long jumper. Nina Johnson drove to the hole and was fouled but could not convert the charity line shots. The next sequence of possessions proved to be the turning point of the game.
Finally getting a mismatch to our advantage – Kim Adams in the paint on the far smaller Bria Jackson – Adams shot rimmed out. RH scooped up the rebound and at the other end, Jackson – cold for much of the game – nailed an open three pointer with 3:26 left in the game to open up a 6 point RH lead 45 -39.
The rest of the game was almost pointless, as WP continued its cold shooting and half step slow defending.
Desperation Fouling.
With two minutes left to go, WP was relegated to fouling RH players (usually Johnson) or hurriedly but unsuccessfully trying to set up 3 point shots – just like RH could not do against WP in the waning minutes of last year’s semifinal game. A Flooks jumper, a Covington free throw and two Aguirre lay-ups were all that WP could muster against 9 RH free throws (6 from Johnson), as the Tigers ultimately bowed to the Royal Comets 56 – 48.
Aftermath.
Danica Covington and Liz Flooks made the all tournament team, along with RH stars Bria Jackson and, of course, Shenise Johnson, who is only a sophomore! I did not take any pictures after the game. I figured if one wants to see after game shots of devastated WP players, I knew that the Journal News (JN) would capture some. Sure enough, in this morning’s JN Sports section, 2 of the 3 photos of WP players involve post game tear shedding hugs.
All in all, it was another glorious playoff run for the Tigers, who willed and clawed their way back to the championship game with grit, hustle and unselfish play at both ends of the floor. They were a pleasure to watch this season and they have much to be proud about. Next year, it will be even tougher for the Tigers to get this far, as their tall post players (Covington and Bronzo) will graduate. But they will still be fun to follow and might surprise a lot of people!
