Star guard ensures Woodgrove has a Nice night time at Briar Woods
Good groups and nice gamers, the Wolverines say, don’t let disgrace linger. On the following inbounds move, she knocked the ball away, drove to the basket and put her group up 50-49 — a lead Woodgrove would maintain till the ultimate whistle as she notched two extra steals within the ultimate 60 seconds and grabbed the rebound of a Briar Woods miss on the buzzer.
“I feel a little less guilty now,” Nice mentioned after the highway win in Ashburn.
“Oh, yeah, I knew she would [make up for it],” senior Annika Rohs mentioned. “I was like, ‘She’s got this.’ ”
On nights comparable to these, the Wolverines (15-2) can reminisce. Just a season in the past, they superior to the Class 5 state championship recreation. But this group is nearly fully totally different, each in circumstance and composition.
In August, a teammate, senior Colette Baine, died after a medical emergency at her house. Nothing ready the Wolverines for that. But by way of the grieving course of, they discovered unity.
“We’ve had a lot of ceremonies and tributes, and we were worried that would be difficult, but in some ways it’s been the exact opposite,” Woodgrove Coach Derek Fisher mentioned. “It’s been inspirational.”
The Wolverines, revamped with 4 new starters and a mission to “play for Colette,” have hit their stride. Nice, who missed all however the first 4 video games of her sophomore yr with a knee damage and nonetheless wears a brace throughout video games, has been central to their progress.
“I still get scared with the minor [injuries],” Nice mentioned. “I just want to take every game as it goes and do everything I can to help us win. I want to win for our seniors.”
Though Woodgrove and Briar Woods (16-3) each prefer to push the tempo, they had been simplest going to their half-court strengths: The Falcons used the size of their publish gamers and the velocity of their guards to generate factors inside; the Wolverines attacked from the perimeter, scoring 21 of their first 22 factors from past the arc.
At halftime, neither fashion proved extra advantageous. Woodgrove led 28-27.
Nice, eager to compensate for final season’s absence, notably on this playofflike setting, grew to become extra aggressive, scoring 13 of her 16 factors within the second half to push the Wolverines forward. Senior Jenna Steadman (13 factors) contributed down the stretch, as did Rohs and freshman Lyla Brown (eight factors every).
“We showed that we have what it takes to beat everyone in our district,” Rohs mentioned. “This is definitely the win we needed to give us an extra boost for the playoffs.”
The Wolverines moved into first place within the district. If they win their ultimate three common season video games, they may have home-court benefit within the district event and earn an automated area event berth.