The Lady Spartans Basketball scored another victory at the Northern Region Finals on Monday against the TC Williams Titans. After winning their Regional semifinal game last Friday, the Spartans moved on to defeat the Titans 46 to 41 to win the Northern Region.
Both teams had faced each other 10 days before in the Patriot District game, which the Spartans also won.
“It’s hard to play the same team over and over, but we worked hard and pulled it through,” said junior April Robinson.
A pattern emerged quickly in the first half, as the Spartans’ continuous driving and passing held a consistent lead over the Titans, who maintained a strategy of three-point attempts. Coordinated passing and shooting, particularly from Robinson and junior Logan Battle, helped the Spartans keep the edge. Fouls were common in the first quarter on both sides, and sinking the penalty shots accounted for most of the points in the beginning of the game.
Among the starters, senior Nora Osei sprained her ankle in the first quarter, but was eager to re-enter the game.
“I went back in anyway. I’m a senior and it was the regional finals, so I just decided to do it,” said Osei. Osei managed to rejoin the game for the second half.
The Lady Spartans were backed by an impressive wall of 300 orange-clad student cheerleaders, who dominated the acoustics. For the players, the crowd was just as essential to winning as training.
“I feel like we couldn’t win without them. When they’re there it feels like we have home-court advantage,” said Robinson.
Freshman started Amy Bergland agreed.
“It’s like having our own cheerleaders,” said Bergland, for whom the crowds chant “She’s a freshman,” whenever she scores.
TC regained ground in the second half. The Titans made several three-point shots and garnered the lead, but by the fourth quarter the Spartans were back on top.
“We knew we had to show more heart than we were, if we were going to come back and win in the second half,” said junior Jordan Miller.
Robinson made several key plays as point guard; superior ball handling by her and Battle made way for the multiple layups, which allowed the Spartans to regain the lead.
After their victory at Regionals, the Lady Spartans move on to the first round of the state finals. Their game against Woodside is tonight at Robinson Secondary School. If they win tonight, they move on to the State Semi-finals at VCU.
“It’s really exciting, we finally got it this year,” said Osei.
The preparation is intense for the next game—footage of the opposing team has been uploaded to Youtube, and the Lady Spartans are watching it to gain a tactical advantage. Beyond that, they’re going back to the basics.
“We’re just looking to take it to the rim,” said Robinson.
