RICHMOND — There’s not much more she could have done. Sarah Imovbioh has put her team on her back all season long, but on Friday afternoon, the St. Anne’s-Belfield junior took her game to another level, scoring 53 points and hauling down 20 rebounds. Yet it was somehow not enough as Hampton Roads, behind freshman Adrienne Mottley, pulled away in the fourth quarter and weathered one last comeback effort from the Saints to win in the VISAA Division 1 semifinals, 64-60.
“We talked after the game that this was a strong team performance against a really strong individual performance,” said Navigators coach Laura Stoner. “And that’s not knocking any of (STAB’s) other players, but (Imovbioh) was just amazing.”
Hampton held a one or two possession lead for all of the first three quarters, but St. Anne’s was able to get rolling in early in the fourth quarter as Imovbioh plowed her way through the paint, creating 3-point plays the old fashioned way. After starting the quarter down by six points, the Saints were suddenly up by two after the opening minutes of the final frame.
“Every game she does this,” said St. Anne’s coach Phil Stinnie of Imovbioh’s day. “Her teammates do their best to try and help, but Sarah’s determination is so strong. She wills her way to victories, and it was just a shame that too many turnovers kept us from winning today.”
The next four minutes would wind up being the difference in the game as the Navigators were able to force four consecutive STAB turnovers with a 1-2-2 trap that they used all game long. With the momentum back in its favor, Hampton was able to string together a 10-0 run to take an 8-point lead with a little over three minutes to play.
St. Anne’s was forced to foul in the final two minutes of play to conserve the clock, and with the Navigators shooting 50 percent at the free throw line, Imovbioh was able to get her team to within 3-points in the game’s closing seconds. But a late foul shot with 2.1 seconds left on the clock put Hampton out by two possessions to seal the win.
Mottley and junior teammate Caitlyn Unsworth did the heavy lifting for the Navigators offensively. Mottley tallied 33 points while Unsworth contributed 20. Jaielle Scott headed up the 1-2-2 trap for Hampton. The Navigator’s defense forced 23 turnovers.
Imovbioh’s 53-point performance was just one point shy of a school record for STAB. In 2003 Melissa Steppe scored 54 points against Charlottesville.
“It wasn’t a total surprise,” Imovbioh said of her game. “I worked really hard over the summer and I wanted to get out there and show people that I can dominate a game and be a true team leader. I think I was able to do that today.”
The loss ends the Saints season, but Imovbioh will be back next year for her senior year and hopes she can replicate another developmental summer and take her school one step further.
“I just want to keep progressing like I did last summer,” Imovbioh said. “If we can learn from the mistakes we made today I think we can be state champions next year.”
