by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond
PHOTOS: Mills Godwin vs. Thomas Dale
In crunch time with a chance to advance to the Central Region championship and the state Group AAA tournament, Mills Godwin flourished while Thomas Dale wilted.
The Eagles used their experience to erase a three-point deficit, winning the fourth period by 16 points to defeat Thomas Dale 54-41 Friday night in the region semifinals at VCU’s Siegel Center.
The Knights scored four fourth-quarter points while Godwin’s Michelle Foley put in 10 points on her own. She finished with 15 points. Maggie Roy paced Godwin with a game-high 18 points.
“I think they might have run out of steam a little bit,” Mills Godwin coach Louise Foley said. “We have Maggie, Michelle and Brooke [Long] back and they were a huge part of last year. I think it was a combination of all that meeting in the fourth.”
The Eagles (25-3) will make their second straight appearance in the region final. Mills Godwin faces L.C. Bird in a rematch of last season’s title game in which the Skyhawks won. MG also gets the all-important state Group AAA tournament bid.
L.C. Bird beat Monacan 53-33 in the other semifinal.
The Knights finish a wonderful season at 21-6. Fabulous freshman Ka’lia Johnson led the way with 15 points, 14 in a first half that Dale led most of. Sophomore Alyssa Frye put in 11 points.
“This was a learning experience for us,” Thomas Dale coach Kevin Coffey said. “We have three sophomores and a freshman who play a lot. We had never been here before and it was a learning process for us.”
In their first-ever appearance in the semifinals the Knights’ youth was not a factor in the first half. Behind Johnson, Thomas Dale went ahead by as many as six in the second quarter and took a one-point lead into the break.
The teams swapped leads three times in the third quarter, the final a trey as time expired by Taylor Bradley to give the Knights a 3-point advantage heading into the fourth.
That is when the leadership and experience of Michelle Foley (junior) and Roy (senior) kicked in.
Michelle Foley scored a basket at the 7:01 mark to tie the score and followed that with a 3-pointer less then 30 seconds later to push the Eagles in front by three.
Thomas Dale, on the other hand, could not get a ball to go through the net as shot after shot rimmed out. Mills Godwin aggressively crashed the boards holding the Knights to single scoring opportunities on most possessions.
The Knights also committed careless turnovers under the pressure of the moment.
“I knew it was going to catch up with us one of these games,” Coffey said. “It is the one problem with having a young team. Mills Godwin is a very good ball club and when we came down the stretch my players got a little frustrated and had some easy turnovers.”
Rashida Scott‘s free throw to cut the Eagles’ lead to two at 41-39 would be as close as the Knights would ever get and Mills Godwin went on a 13-2 run to close out the contest. Thomas Dale had only four points in the entire fourth period.
Roy tallied six points in the period, as she went 6 for 6 from the free throw line. Michelle Foley, who only had five points before the fourth, scored 10.
Johnson was held to only one point in the second half, a product of Mills Godwin’s extra focus on her.
“We put Sallie Foster on her and we thought that if we could shut her down that the other players might step up but probably not,” Michelle Foley said.
The Eagles now have a chance to avenge their loss to L.C. Bird and keep the Skyhawks from repeating.
“We want to win. We are not satisfied with going to states. We lost last year in the championship and want to win it this season,” Michelle Foley said.
Thomas Dale 11 13 13 4 – 41
Mills Godwin 14 9 11 20 – 54
Thomas Dale (21-6): Frye 11, Johnson 15, Bradley 5, Curley 1, An. Hobbs 3, Scott 2, Al. Hobbs 2, Jones 4. Totals: 13 12-19 41. 3-point: Frye, Bradley, An. Hobbs.
Mills Godwin (25-3): Walker 0, Watkins 0, Foley 15, Nichols 5, Roy 18, Long 4, Foster 5, Sisson 0, Withrow 7. Totals: 18 14-17 54. 3-point goals: Foley 3, Foster.
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