“The bottom line is, we get to go back to the regional championship,” said Poly coach Carl Buggs after his team’s 44-38 win over Troy. “It wasn’t pretty, but we won, and that’s what matters.”
It’s safe to say that when your team scores nearly 40% of its points off free throws; when they turn the ball over more than twenty times; when your All-American scores just three points; and when you come away from the second and third quarters with 11 points (and just two converted field goal attempts); well, then it wasn’t just “not pretty,” it was downright ugly. But as coach Buggs said, an ugly win is still a win, and the Jackrabbits will now advance to face Colony, who upset Cajon last night, in the CIF regional championship on Saturday, at UCLA at 6pm. The winner of that contest will head north to Sacramento for the state final.
Last night’s game started well for the Jackrabbits, as they committed only three turnovers in the first quarter, hopping out to an 8-0 lead (just like the last time these two teams played a few weeks ago), and finishing the quarter up 15-8, largely on the strength of Brittany Wilson’s 10 first-quarter points (she finished with 17). “I looked to get after it from the jump,” Wilson said after the game. “I wanted to come out aggressively and try to help get a lead.” The lead came in handy, as the Warriors would spend the last three quarters of the game gnawing into it, ultimately only managing to whittle a point off when the final buzzer sounded.
That was the end of good news for the ‘Rabbits for a while, however—in the first quarter, two Poly players (Trenishia Sessions and Thaddesia Southall) knocked down jumpers. That’s as many field goals as Poly would get in all of the second and third. Seven turnovers in the second quarter, as well as some Troy fouls, meant that Poly only even attempted three shots in that period, with Wilson hitting one, and the ‘Rabbits getting another four points off free throws. The turnovers were largely the result of Troy’s press, something that Poly was both prepared for, and unprepared for. Despite spending a significant amount of time in Wednesday’s practice working on their press break, Poly’s guards seemed flummoxed by the pressure.
“The press break we put in was for just this situation,” said Buggs. “We’re just rushing. Our guards are so intense, and sometimes it takes a little patience to make it happen. We’ve got to relax, and not try to do too much.” The Warriors continued to hit open shots, closing the halftime gap to one point, with Poly up 21-20.
In the third, nobody could get much of anything going, as both teams scored just five points—Troy actually sprinted out to a three-point lead on a 4-0 run to start the quarter, before a crucial three from Ariya Crook-Williams tied the game, and then two free throws from Sheila Boykin gave Poly back a lead they would never again relinquish, close as they came. The third ended 26-25, with Troy having missed a number of chances from the free throw line—they finished just 3/12 from the stripe.
In the fourth, it was clear that Poly had found their feet again—Troy, seeming gassed from the intense style they played for the first three quarters, eased off on the backcourt pressure, and Poly made them pay, starting on a 6-0 run that finally gave them the momentum back. From there, turnovers kept Troy in it, as did the impressive play of the Warriors’ Alex Sanchez (13 points) and two three’s from Alysa Ito in the last minute. Ito’s second three cut Poly’s lead to just two points with 14 seconds remaining. But Crook-Williams came through in the clutch, sinking her last four free throws to keep her team’s lead, and its season, alive. Said Crook Williams after, “As soon as they fouled me I said to myself, ‘You have to make these shots. This is too big a game for you to miss it.'”
Poly actually had a pretty impressive performance from the line overall, sinking 18-24, which is good news for a team that has struggled in that department at times. “See, there’s some progress,” said Buggs with a smile. “Something positive.” The free throws more than covered the margin of victory, just as Troy’s missed opportunities in the same stat more than covered their margin of defeat. In other words, it’s like coach said: not a pretty win. “They fought harder than our last opponents,” said Monique Oliver. “They really wanted it.” Oliver finished with just the three points, but had ten rebounds, and her aggressive play on the boards in the second half were crucial to the resurgence of Poly’s transition game. Boykin had six rebounds, and Crook-Williams finished with 8 points.
Come back tomorrow for a preview of Saturday evening’s state regional championship, and a feature on a Poly player as well! Prepare for a slew of Pauley/Poly Pavilion jokes…