Henrico girls comeback attempt falls short in state semis

The task was daunting, or so it seemed.

There was no way the Henrico Warriors could dig themselves out of the 18-point-and-spiraling abyss in which they found themselves Saturday night in their VHSL Class 4 quarterfinal matchup against visiting Hampton on the Guy Davis Court.

For almost three quarters, you see, the Crabbers had shut them down with stifling, deny-everything full-court man-to-man pressure and lit them up with 10 strikes from behind the arc.

Now, with 10 minutes left to play, they trailed 46-28 and had nowhere to go but up.

Then, in the final 1:45, they used an inspired, partisan-crowd driven 12-2 run to close to 48-40 entering the fourth quarter and ultimately cut their deficit to 52-45 when freshman Brooklyn Stockton hit a pair of free throws 5:38 from the end.

Alas, their comeback fell short.

Hampton prevailed 60-49 and Tuesday will head west once again, this time to face Salem in the state semifinal.

What was the secret sauce that enabled Coach Lawrence Bray’s crew to rise phoenix-like when all appeared lost?

“Don’t give up and play to the final horn,” said Kalyn Rawlings, a 6-0 sophomore who pulled yeoman’s duty in the paint at both ends of the court. “That’s the mentality you have to have.”

From the opening tip, the Crabbers (20-6) made a forceful statement with their defense.

The Warriors (17-7) actually knew what to expect from film study. They’d done their best to simulate it in practice. Executing against it in real time was another matter altogether.

“We’re a high-pressure team,” said Hampton coach Shanda Bailey. “We like to play end line to end line. We try to pressure the other team and get them to do what we want them to do instead of letting them do what they like to do offensively.”

That relentless pressure over all 94 feet enabled the Crabbers to take control early and take a 26-17 lead into halftime despite the Warriors’ best efforts to limit their offensive opportunities out of their 2-3 matchup zone.

Zuriel Pendleton-Morant, a 5-6 junior guard, contributed 18 of Hampton’s 26 first-half points on the strength of five 3-pointers from an around-the-world variety of locations.

The Warriors returned from the break in a box-and-one with Daliyah Downey, a 5-6 senior, shadowing Pendleton-Morant’s every move.

That’s when Jiana Price stepped in and drained three 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the third quarter and another at 2:10 that gave the Crabbers their 18-point lead.

“We have a lot of girls that can shoot the ball,” said Bailey. “That’s something that we work on in practice. That’s one of the good things about our team. We try not to have one main player that the opponent can focus on. 

“We have multiple kids that can step up. If 14 (Pendleton-Morant) is being guarded heavy, we have another guard that can shoot. We have another guard that can handle the ball. We have a post player we can throw it to on the inside. We’re a diverse team this year, and I like that.”

The tide began to shift ever so slightly when Rawlings hit one of two free throws at 1:46 and Kelsea Bennett sank a soft jumper from the paint at 1:30.

Mai’Layah Murphy and Stockton followed with putbacks on consecutive possessions to cut Hampton’s advantage to 46-35 at 0:53.

Hampton’s Tori Wellons found a seam in the Warriors’ zone and hit a layup at 0:42. 

Rawlings answered with a close range bucket off a Bennett assist, and with a second remaining, Downey drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut Henrico’s deficit to eight points.

By this time, Bray had switched his girls from the hybrid defense to a full-court man-to-man, which created offensive opportunities and energized the Warriors and their faithful supporters as well.

“Once (Price) went off on us, we wanted to jump on it in man and pick up everybody either full court or meet them at half,” said Bray. “We’d really been playing strong defensively with our match-up zone. They (the Crabbers) have great ball handlers. They attack and get downhill.

“When they had a couple of girls start hitting 3’s on us, we had to go to man-to-man.”

Pendleton-Morant scored four unanswered points (layup, 2-for-2 from the line) to open the fourth quarter.

Stockton then drove baseline and hit a layup and followed with 3-of-4 from the line.

With Hampton’s lead dwindling, Bailey called time at 5:38 and instructed her team to run a more deliberate offense focusing on quick passes and high percentage shots and challenging Henrico to foul to regain possession.

The strategy slowed the Warriors’ momentum, and while the Crabbers’ 8-for-14 showing from the foul line was far from perfect, it was solid enough to secure the victory.

Hampton shot 19-for-57 from the field and collected 38 rebounds. Henrico hit 19-of-50 shots and had 35 rebounds. Each team committed 14 turnover.

Pendleton-Morant finished with 26 points for the Crabbers. Price added 15 and Wellons 13.

Bennett scored 18, Stockton 12, and Rawlings 11 for Henrico.

“I’m glad we got here,” said Rawlings of the Warriors’ ride to the Region 4B title and berth in the state quarterfinals. “When we stick together, we play well. That’s what got us here.”