After five second-place finishes, Petersburg finally breaks through
Excitement ran high amongst the Petersburg High School faithful who made the drive north on I-95 Saturday to cheer on their beloved Crimson Wave in the VHSL, Class 3 championship basketball game against Lake Taylor at the Siegel Center.
Their expectations ran high as well, and their emotions were on full display.
They were about to witness, they hoped, the moment their guys strode to center court and accepted the program’s first state championship trophy since their Moses Malone-led predecessors claimed the title in 1973 and 1974.
All too fresh in the minds of many, though, were the five near-misses, the runner-up finishes in 1985, 1989, 2010, 2012, and 2022, and this year, they prayed, would be different if the Ty White-coached Wave delivered.
Imagine, then, the ear-splitting celebration, dancing in the aisles, and sheer ecstasy that was palpable in the jam-packed arena as the closing minutes ticked away and exploded at last when White’s crew put the finishing touches on its 56-35 victory.
“This is great,” said Petersburg athletic director Bill Lawson III. “Everybody said we had that cloud over top of us because it’s been 52 years since we won the state championship. This brings light to the city itself.”
White, a 1998 Petersburg graduate and former player and assistant coach, returned to his alma mater this season after an ultra-successful 15-year tenure at John Marshall during which the Justices won seven state titles.
“There’s no place like home,” he said as he stood just off the court amidst the post-game revelry. “This is an unbelievable feeling for the city of Petersburg, who deserve this and have longed for this for 52 years. I’m just super-excited for our city. It’s our turn now.”
The Crimson Wave’s performance was impressive on many levels.
There was the red-hot start that included Kelvin Anderson’s 11 first-quarter points (three strikes from behind the arc and a transition layup off Ladarius Givan’s assist) that propelled the victors to a 17-9 lead entering the second.
“It was just the energy from the city of Petersburg and from our bench and our coaches,” said Anderson, a 6-2 sophomore, of his fire out of the gate. “With the work I put in every day, it’s just a blessing to go out there and be able to showcase that in front all those people.”
That said…
“I was just playing a possession at a time,” he added. “My main goal is to play hard for 32 minutes. That’s what I did. That’s what my teammates did. We went out there and got the job done. The rest is history.”
There was the quick, fast, intentional passing coupled with the willingness to give up a good shot to set up a teammate for a great one, as their 12 team assists attest.
“We’re a very talented group of guys,” said Anderson (19 points). “Everybody is ready to play. Whoever’s hot, we’re going to feed him the ball. It’s not one person. It’s all of us.”
There was the power in the paint which resulted in a 32-27 rebounding advantage (including 12 by Givan), 14 points off grab, kick-out, and go fast breaks, and nine more points off putbacks of missed shots.
There was, also, an occasional crowd-pleasing alley-oop pass and dunk with either Givan or Latrell Allmond, both 6-8, on the receiving end.
Michael Phillips
What was most impressive, though, was the Wave’s defense, mostly man-to-man, often covering the entire court, as well as a bit of 2-man front zone pressure, all of which prevented the Titans from Norfolk from sustaining any offensive rhythm.
“Defense is 80 percent heart,” said 5-9 junior guard Cam Claiborne. “Our coaches set up a great game plan. We executed it well.
“They tell us, ‘Don’t worry about getting a steal. Get a deflection.’ We know our back side help will make that steal, so if we play solid defense and stay in front of our man, the rest will take care of itself.”
The Wave (22-4) harried Lake Taylor (22-6) into 11-for-41 shooting (including 1-for-8 from behind the arc) and forced 13 turnovers. They were credited with six team steals and five blocks (including four by Allmond, an Oklahoma State signee).
“We try to neutralize their strengths,” said White of his team’s defensive mission. “We knew that 24 (Jamari Edwards) and 1 (Shaquantay Evans) were great scorers. We wanted to limit their touches. We wanted to give them (the Titans) few options on offense.”
The Wave used a 14-10 second quarter to take a 31-19 lead into halftime.
The Titans held steady in the third, closed the gap slightly to 39-28 entering the fourth, and cut their deficit to single digits (39-30) when Evans (11 points) hit a floater at 7:35.
They could get no closer, however. King Bacot, a 6-5 freshman, answered with a floater of his own, and Allmond (15 points, eight rebounds) scored from the paint off a Givan pass, drew a foul, and converted the and-one to put Petersburg up 44-30 at 4:50.
From that point, Petersburg outscored Lake Taylor 12-5 to secure the victory, its 18th straight, and the title.
The Wave shot 20-for-44 from the field, including 6-for-18 from 3-point land.
Claiborne, Givan, and Allmond transferred to Petersburg this year from John Marshall.
The state title, then, is their fourth in a row.
“Winning never gets old,” Allmond said. “I never get tired of winning.”
