WPCNR PRESS BOX FROM TROY, NY. By Tim Sheehan. March 12, 2005: I arrived (in Troy) towards the end of the first quarter, thanks to a traffic tie up on the Taconic.  But Tiger fans were not worried, as I was told that both teams were a little jittery, but WP was up by one, 12-11, (over Rush-Henrietta) near the beginning of the second quarter.

PUT IT IN THE BOOKS! The White Plains Women's Basketball Team celebrating Friday night in Troy after their historic 40-37 victory, putting the Women's Team in the Class AA Championship tonight at 8:45 P.M. Photo by Tim Sheehan for WPCNR Sports

In the second quarter, WP girls practiced their usual “spread the ball around” philosophy and punished RH by beating their press with smart passing, deft dribbling and an occasional football lob for an easy two – WP was up 25-17.  RH played man to man defense, but was quick to double on WP’s post threat, Elise Bronzo.  Quick ball movement on offense and hardy defense led to the halftime bulge.  Top scorer at the half was Elise with 7 points, but the scoring was spread around, with Liz Flooks right behind.

RH Rips 'Em in the Third.

In the third quarter, the Royal Comets made their run with solid play at both ends of the floor.  On offense, they beat WP in the transition game, finding half step advantages or outright openings in the seam off the wings for easy buckets.  RH leading scorer Shenise Johnson was able to slash to the hoop and score or dish to teammates. 

On defense, RH stepped up and smothered (WP fans thought a better word was “mugged”) with a man to man defense that cut off passing lanes with overplay, often stealing or tipping away passes on the wings.  They fronted centers Bronzo and Covington and our attempted lob passes to counteract this were off the mark. 

WP forwards slashed to the hoop in an effort to shake RH defenders, only to get fouled or blocked, but with the refs calling a loose game, most fouls were called blocks.  Our players were knocked to the floor on a few occasions, looking for the foul call that never came, and their frustration was evident.  End result of the “quarter from hell” was WP down by one, 32-31.

Knowledgeable WP fans in the crowd assured me that the girls were a good fourth quarter team, and they made good on their promise. 

Tiger Coaches Huddle, Making Key Adjustments with the Tigers entering the Final Stanza. Photo by Tim Sheehan for WPCNR Sports

RH Stops Doing What Was Working for Them

They were also helped by a somewhat strange decision on the part of the RH coach, who abandoned the man to man defense that had just smothered WP in the third quarter, and played a 2-3 zone.  Moreover, if the intent was to rest some of their star players who were evidently tired (such as Shenise Johnson), keeping their press on in the WP backcourt, with Johnson pressuring the inbounds pass under the WP basket (assuring that she would have to run full speed back down the court to defend the other end when WP – as it always did – broke the press) and then falling back to a 2-3 zone was not the way to rest anyone. 

Eating up the Zone.

WP just ate up the zone, passing the ball around as they did in the 3rd quarter against Kingston, finding the open Tiger and making the 2 RH defenders on top race back and forth like a metronome.  Jen Osher hit a big three and then Elise Bronzo found the seam in the paint to collect a threaded pass and make a turnaround jumper and suddenly WP was up by 4 with only a few minutes left.

Meanwhile, at the defensive end, WP began to put the clamps in RH stars Johnson (Danica Covington just wore her down) and guard Bria Jackson, who could drive and hit the three.   Although RH showed some decent ball and player movement in the first three quarters, with time running out in the 4th quarter they began to run isolation plays for Johnson and Jackson to go one on one with a WP defender.  Jackson in particular was tough with a quick cross over dribble move that launched her into the lane from the key, but Tiger defender Kim Adams played her tough.  Johnson can slash quickly to the hoop and her post moves are deft, but she tried to muscle in on Danica a few times, only to get nowhere. 

Kim Goes Down.

With less than a minute left, Jackson crossed over again and jumped into the lane hard on Kim Adams (WP fans were howling for a charge or a travel) but lost the ball and fell down (no call!) and Angelei Aguirre (a big factor in beating the RH press) was there to pick up the loose ball.  If only she could have picked up Kim Adams, who rolled her ankle underneath Jackson in the scuffle for the loose ball, and had to be carried off the court.

RH had 3 fouls to give and with the refs already calling a loose game, RH’s full court press was in full “hack mode”, trying to steal the ball but settling for three straight quality hacks, while many WP fans could only watch and hold their breath, praying that a foul would be called and the fatal turnover could be avoided. 

Shades of the Knickerbockers.

Up 3 with 18 seconds left, WP couldn’t convert a 1 and 1 free throw opportunity to put away the game and RH had a chance to tie.  Earlier RH had set up a play with a late option for a 3 point shot protected by an effective weak side screen, but they never bothered to set that up.  Instead, they just put their 2 three point shooters (including Jackson) on the wings and had one of the forwards come out and try to set a clumsy screen. 

 WP defenders went into full frenzy, busting through the screens and denying the open 3 look.  With plan “A” stymied,  and no Plan “B” attempt to get Johnson down low for a post move (hopefully resulting in a 3 point play off of a lay-up and a foul),  RH couldn’t even get off a shot, and WP won the game 40-37.

The snow began to fall as a WP bus filled up with fans to make the 2 plus hour trek home – the motor coach honked their horn a few times on the way out.  Many bus riders will be back again tomorrow night, looking to witness some history in the making.

WE HAD 'EM ALLLLLLLLLL THE WAY: White Plains Coaches of Champions, Sue Adams, left and Debbie Flooks take a breather after a hard-fought barn-burner. (Bob Prince, the Pirate sportscaster, after the old baseball Pirates had pulled out a tough win against a great opponent, always said, "We had em ALLLLL the way.") Photo by Tim Sheehan for WPCNR Sports