WPCNR COURTSIDE. Special to WPCNR From Tim Sheehan. March 11, 2007: Our basketball correspondent in New Paltz, files this report on the White Plains Tigers loss Saturday in the State Regional, showing the heart, resiliance and tenacity of this great White Plains team:
The underwomaned Lady Tigers did lead early on in the first quarter (1-0) but could not regain the lead again until 6:39 left in the 4th quarter. In the first quarter, Kingston demonstrated why it was a better team than the one which WP handily dispatched in the opening round of the playoffs two years ago. Playing a 2-3 zone with quick guards Rachel Gaffey and Lynsey Timbrouck up top, WP floor general Angelei Aguirre was stymied by their quick hands and collapse to the paint strategy, which cut off her drives and dared her to take outside shots. Kingston also had a rotating duo of big players inside (Rachel or Keyanna Williams) who made it difficult to get the ball in to WP forwards Paige Sprewell or Liz Flooks. Their presence altered shot angles and they scooped up nearly all the big defensive rebounds. This plagued WP through the entire game, as they couldn’t grab any offensive rebounds – settling for one shot only. End of first quarter: Kingston 13, WP8.
In the second quarter, because Kingston wasn’t pressing, Angelei Aguirre started posting up in the low blocks in the offensive court, and Lauren McGuire handled the point duties. Although some looks opened up in the paint, WP players couldn’t convert on some close in shots and the three point shots hoisted up by Liz Flooks and even Angelei Aguirre only occasionally connected. On defense, WP stayed in their 2-3 zone, probably fearing some bad man to man match ups. But Kingston’s Timbrouck, Gaffey and Amanda Horvets started clicking on the long range shots, including some threes. Score at half: Kingston 27, WP 20.
Kingston’s Amanda Horvers opened up the third quarter with a 3 off a screen at the top of the key and Kingston opened up a 10 point lead. After a swap of defensive stands by both teams, Angelei took a feed to the hole and got fouled, converting 2 free throws. Timbrouck then hit a jumper but Liz Flooks hit a three and WP is down 32-25.
Tigers Claw Back Into It.
Angelei took a defensive rebound and went coast to coast, got fouled and hit one free throw. She then blocked a Timbrouck jumper and set up Paige Sprewell, who spun to the hoop for a layup, but couldn’t convert the free throw. After a defensive stand, Liz Flooks converted on an out of bounds play and it is Kingston 32, WP 30. WP shifted to a man to man defense, which stopped the onslaught of Kingston 3 pointers, but caused match up problems in defending the quick Kingston guards.
Timbrouck got fouled on a fast break layup attempt, but missed both free throws with 2:47 left. After a Spreewell missed jumper, Timbrouck attacked the basket again with a shake and bake move along the baseline for a layup and after two failed WP attempts to get the ball inside, she returned to the offensive end and hit a jumper to pull ahead by 6, 36-30. But a Bree Bradley putback and an Aguirre drive brought WP back to within 2 (36-34) at the end of the quarter.
Anybody’s Game.
WP’s Lauren McGuire hit a baseline jumper to start the 4th Quarter to tie the game, but Kingston’s Rachel Williams quickly answered with a turnaround jumper. Liz Flooks took a feed from Page Sprewell to tie the game again and then Angelei Aguirre took a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up court for a Flooks layup attempt that resulted in a foul, one free-throw and a one point WP lead (39-38) with 6:39 left in the game. Rachel Williams converted a drive to put Kingston back into the lead, 40-39.
Flooks is Flattened — Comes right back.
After a WP miss, Kingston drove the ball up court and Liz Flooks was flattened by a Kingston pick near the half court line. As Flooks was sprawled on the floor with the wind knocked out of her, officials did not stop play and Kingston converted on the 5-4 player advantage, going up 42-39 with 6:02 left.
With Kingston playing a fierce brand of defense, and officials calling hardly any fouls on the perimeter, WP started coughing up the ball on offense and was forced to bring Angelei Aguirre back to the point, who got hacked and – with Kingston now in a penalty situation – hit 2 free throws to cut the lead to 42-41. Paige Sprewell then hauled in a defensive rebound and instead of waiting to hand the ball to Angelei, caught the Kingston defense off guard, motored up court and deftly dished to Liz Flooks on the wing, who drove to the hole and hit one free throw to tie the game at 42 with 4:31 left. WP would never regain the lead from that point, going ice cold in the final minutes.
Crunch Time.
With 3:20 left, Kingston in a double bonus penalty situation and both of their big girls inside (Rachel and Keyanna Williams)with 4 fouls, things were not looking too bad for WP. But no WP defender boxed out on a wild Timbrouck shot which barely touched the rim, which was scooped up and put in by Stephanie McCoy and Kingston went up by 4.
Trying to take advantage of Kingston’s foul woes, Angelei Aguirre could not convert on a short turnaround in the paint, and after a missed Kingston shot, their guards – burned once already – were now waiting for Paige Spreewell’s rebound and coast to coast ambitions, and stole the ball from her at midcourt, converting into a Williams layup and Kingston went up by 6 with 2:31 left in the game.
At our end, WP now gets 2 free throws for every Kingston foul, but Bree Bradley could not convert at the charity line and on the next possession, WP coughed up the ball on a tomahawk chop move from behind by Kingston’s Timbrouck, who took the ball downcourt and found their best free throw shooter, Amanda Horvets, who WP was forced to foul.
With 1:42 left, Kingston was up by 8 and since no one from WP could convert on any 3 point attempts to cut the lead, WP defenders were forced to foul, putting themselves in a penalty situation which led to Kingston free throws and an 11 point lead. A Jenn Anasta 3 with less than 30 seconds left brought WP to the final score: Kingston 54-WP 46.
The Wrapup
In the end, the WP girls played valiantly without their leading scorer and top defender, Kim Adams. At this level of competition, it is difficult to survive the loss of such a key player. The girls stepped up and played well, and managed to stay in the game until the very end. But players were forced to take shots that they did not normally take and play defensive positions they did not normally play. Mastering these tasks to gel into a consistent and cohesive team that can not just compete, but actually win at the State tournament level usually takes more than a few days notice.
In the final game, Liz Flooks scored 18, Angelei Aguirre, 14 , and Paige Sprewell, 5 with a game-leading 15 rebounds. The Tigers were held to 33% shooting and made only 11 of 24 from the line (the margin of victory for Kingston ). Kingston did not shoot much better hitting 36% of their shots , but forced White Plains into 21 turnovers, including 13 steals. The Tigers had no answer for Lynsey Timbrouck the leading scorer for Kingston with 17.
Congrats to all Tiger players, Tiger coaches and a special thanks goes to Tiger seniors Adams, Anasta, Flooks and McGuire for a great season and great HS careers.
