By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Maybe the St. Anne’s-Belfield basketball team should play against the boys more often. The Saints used last week to scrimmage boys in practice and fine-tuned their game and on Wednesday, STAB reaped the rewards.
The Saints cruised past Denbigh Baptist 91-42 to advance to the semifinals of the VISAA Division II tournament.
“I think playing against the faster, stronger, bigger boys has really helped us,” said senior Addi Bolin, who finished with 25 points. “We were able to play as well as we were playing last week against them in practice and we were all just going hard and pumping each other up.”
Although the Minutemen hung with the host team for the first quarter, STAB turned a two-point lead into a rout with its second-quarter surge.
The Saints (20-1) keyed that run with a stifling pressure defense, which led to easy baskets in transition. In fact, St. Anne’s scored 10 points off turnovers in the second quarter. Bolin, who had the hot hand, gave her team a boost with 16 first-half points.
Sarah Toliver also provided a spark for the Saints as she was able to get in the passing lanes and get her hands on the ball. The junior finished with 11 steals to go along with 17 points and eight assists. STAB collected 21 steals in the game and led 45-26 at halftime.
“After being off 12 days, you don’t know what you’re going to get,” said Saints coach Phil Stinnie. “Coming out in the second quarter, we got the cobwebs out, and that team, they’re physical. So it made our girls focus a little more. They had a nice mixed defense on Sarah [Imovbioh] so the rest of the girls saw some opportunities and they took advantage.”
STAB maintained that intensity in the second half, and continued to dominate on the boards and execute its offense with crisp, clean passes.
Sarah Imovbioh, who had nine first-half points, picked up the pace in the second half. The UVa-bound senior finished with an impressive 27 points, 27 rebounds and six blocks.
The Saints outscored Denbigh 46-16 in the second half and broke off a 21-0 to open the fourth quarter. The Minutemen’s first points of the frame came with 1:44 remaining in the contest.
“We always play well every third quarter,” Imovbioh said. “Stinnie said, ‘Sarah, keep your intensity up so your teammates can follow you – they are watching you. If your energy’s down, they play down.’ So I just tried to keep my energy up.”
Also finishing in double figures for STAB was Lexi Peck, who contributed 11 points.
Jessie Oder paced Denbigh with 16 points, while teammate Kimberlyn Schindler finished with 15.
The Saints will face Hampton Roads Academy, a winner over Norfolk Collegiate, in the semifinals on Friday at noon at Benedictine High School in Richmond.
