St. Anne’s-Belfield girls basketball wants to build from defense to offense, using its extreme depth to wear down opponents.
But some nights, the Saints are just dialed in from beyond the arc and then things can get out of hand fast.
“We’re a team with a lot of shooters and when they see the ball go through the basket, everything intensifies,” said STAB coach Phil Stinnie.
STAB had one of those shooting nights Saturday in the Play for Preemies Showcase and rolled 73-22 over a scrappy Fluvanna County squad.
Mo Johnson led the assault from beyond the line with six 3-pointers as part of a 24-point night for the freshman while Sabrina Lewis poured in 17 points and knocked down three first half 3-pointers. Five of Johnson’s shots from beyond the arc came in that red-hot first half too.
“I think I hit one or two threes and I think that really pumped my team up to keep shooting,” Johnson said. “Our bench was really hyping everyone up and we didn’t get down on ourselves when we would miss, we’d just keep shooting.”
Johnson’s buckets definitely helped power the rest of the offense as STAB started moving the ball better and created a string of turnovers that transformed a 12-9 first quarter lead into a 40-15 runaway by halftime. Johnson played a critical but largely supporting role on last year’s state runner-up squad for the Saints but is now handling most of the Saints’ ballhandling with the graduation of Jovia Winkey who now plays for Christopher Newport. Johnson is stuffing the stat sheet in her expanded role, averaging 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.5 steals, all while committing just 1.1 turnovers per game.
“She is the hardest working kid — people just see the results on the floor, they don’t understand the work ethic this young lady has, she puts in the time and effort,” Stinnie said. “To say that about a 14-year old? That’s incredible. That’s special..”
She’s getting help too from Lewis who has started to take a leap forward recently including the 17-point performance against the Flucos.
“At the beginning, she was just trying to figure out where she fit in and I think the light has flicked on for her,” Stinnie said. “She understands she’s the sixth man and she energizes things with offense and gets in the passing lane and tries to run it.”
Fluvanna, meanwhile, should be commended for taking on the Saints. When the Play for Preemies slate was being put together by Western coach Kris Wright, the Flucos were ready and willing to take the floor against the Saints, continuing a string of fearless scheduling under coach Chad White that has helped make the Flucos a solid competitor year-in and year-out.
“There were some good things we can take out of a game like that and it’s going to matter down the road,” White said. “It’s all a learning experience.”
The Flucos had a tough night offensively which made STAB’s own hot shooting that much more effective. Neveah Ivory and Jules Shepherd managed four points each to lead Fluvanna on offense.
The Saints, now 8-2, jump into LIS play Tuesday night when they take on Trinity Episcopal at home while the Flucos play Waynesboro on the road before hosting Charlottesville Friday in a critical district clash.
