Powhatan looks like a girls basketball contender in win over Monacan

Never stop competing.

Not when you’re far ahead.

Not when you’re well behind.

The victory, you see, often reveals itself not just on the scoreboard but through the conduct which you display and the spirit with which you play.

Wednesday night, Powhatan, an emerging Region 4B contender, defeated the rebuilding and shorthanded Monacan Chiefs 64-27.

Pressing with impunity from the opening tap, the visiting Indians used their trademark full-court man-to-man to force 2-for-11 shooting and 11 turnovers in the first quarter, took a 24-5 lead into the second, and never looked back.

“We played with energy right away,” said Greg Willis, Powhatan’s second-year head coach. “We always want to win the energy battle in the first minutes of the first quarter. If we can do that, we usually get off to a good start.”

Well ahead and with firm command of the momentum and the outcome already a fait accompli, Willis called off the press and directed his players to defend just in the Chiefs’ front court. 

What’s to gain, he reasoned, by running up the score? 

Better yet, what message would it send and what lesson would it teach?

“Winning this game was the difference between having a home (regional) playoff game as the 3-seed or an away game as the 5-seed,” Willis said. “This was a very important win, so I was a little reluctant to (scale back the press) too early.

“Once we did, we started mixing the bench in to make sure everybody got playing time. In the second half, we really dialed our defense down to make sure they got shots up. 

“Our girls love the way we treat our opponents the right way. We’re never trying to embarrass anybody. Win or lose, I’d really like for both teams to have a positive experience. Our girls really buy into that.”

The Indians led 34-16 at the break and 42-21 after three quarters.

“Our goal was to come out as strong as we could,” said 5-10 senior guard Emily Gibbs. “We wanted to shut them down. We accomplished that goal.”

How so?

“We’re a team of athletes,” she added. “Almost every girl plays another sport. We’re all very in shape. Defense gets us into our offense. Good defense wins a good game. 

“We do a lot of scouting. We don’t let our man score. We don’t let our man get the rebound. That’s our mentality for everything. Our help’s gotten a lot better. Over time, our chemistry has improved as well.”

Against Monacan’s pesky 2-3 zone, the Chiefs slowed the tempo a bit as the game progressed, relied on quick, crisp, deliberate passes around the perimeter, looked inside when the opening arose, and attempted mostly high percentage shots.

Though trailing by double digits, the Chiefs never backed down. They scrapped and clawed and played every possession as if the score were close and the outcome still in doubt.

Though well ahead, the Indians remained focused, executed fluidly and intentionally despite the shuffling lineup, never slipped into complacency, and continued to play with their eye on the prize.

“It’s easy to get worked up when the other team’s passionate,” Gibbs said. “Just taking a minute to compose ourselves and encourage each other helped us keep calm and cool.”

As the Chiefs held forth defensively, the Indians closed the game with a 22-6 fourth quarter, not so much by a strategic change but on the strength of 3-pointers by Emily Kantzler (11 points), Lauren Johnson, and Anderson Daniels (13 points) plus six buckets off turnovers in the front court.

In 32 minutes of intensely contested, free-flowing action, Powhatan connected on 29-of-84 shots, surrendered just seven turnovers while forcing 28 costly ones, limited the Chiefs to 9-for-48 shooting, and outrebounded them 54-46.

In the two seasons before Willis arrived, the Indians compiled a combined record of 15-31. Last season, his first, they finished 13-10. So far this year, they’re 14-7.

“My freshman and sophomore year, we were on the opposite end of where we are now,” said 5-10 senior forward Addie Delaney (14 points). “Now, a lot of girls who experienced that try to tell the younger ones what we’ve through and that we want to be sportsmanlike people. 

“You should pick up the other players when you knock them down or when they fall down. We have really great people, really great personalities, and we really strive to be good sports.”