Liberty Christian Academy girls defeat Virginia Episcopal in Blue Ridge Semi’s

By Ted Allen
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 22, 2008

Seamless execution on both sides of the court enabled Liberty Christian Academy’s girls basketball team to defeat cross-town rival Virginia Episcopal School for the third time, 57-43, in Thursday’s Blue Ridge Conference semifinal at home.
The Bishops were equally successful in running their half-court offense and finishing fast-break opportunities, outscoring VES 21-10 in the third quarter to take control.

“We’re very good at getting the ball downcourt and making baskets on transition, and we’re a very good half-court playing team, too,“ said LCA senior guard Christina Mitchell, who scored 10 points and distributed three assists despite being guarded by 6-foot-1 forward Jessica Watkins. “We’re a physically strong team. I had to take it to the paint. That’s what my coach wanted me to do.“

The Bulldogs clung to a 25-21 halftime lead after Watkins (13 points) converted a putback before the buzzer. But Jelena Antic (22 points, nine rebounds) scored on LCA’s first three possessions of the second half and the Bulldogs pulled away.

“VES is a good team and to beat them three times in a row, we were very fortunate and it took a great effort,“ Bulldogs coach Buddy Mason said. “In the first quarter, we had a few jitters. We knew VES would be ready to play. We’ve got a tad bit better depth than they do and we just executed better in the second half.“

LCA meets the winner of Thursday’s other semifinal between Miller School and Carlisle in Saturday’s BRC final, starting at 3:45 p.m. at Liberty University’s Vines Center.

Mitchell said Felice Lowery’s rotation in at point guard helped facilitate LCA’s attack.

“Felice was running the offense and that really opened up shots for Jelena and Hanka (Musa, 15 points, 10 rebounds),“ she said.

LCA trailed 11-8 after the first quarter before Lowery’s 15-foot jumper lifted it to a 14-13 lead. Moments later, after Watkins put the Bishops back on top by scoring off an inbounds pass at the right post, Antic drove into the lane and fed Musa down low for a high banker and a foul. She completed the three-point play for a 19-17 advantage.

Later, after a breakaway steal and layup by Lowery (eight points), Musa made one of her many putbacks, finishing a driving miss by Mitchell with another short-range banker in the middle of the lane.

“Rebounding hurt us in the first half and the second half, we cleaned that up but then we failed to execute on both ends,“ VES coach Jim Clarke said. “They’re tough to defend and tough to play against.“

The Bulldogs moved the ball and rotated extremely well on offense, leading to some defensive breakdowns on critical plays. “And they took advantage of it,“ Clarke said.

Watkins said the Bishops were prepared to stop LCA’s volatile attack, but didn’t make quick enough reads.

“We knew exactly what they were going to do, but we didn’t recognize it when we were playing and we didn’t rebound very well,“ she said.

LCA worked the clock from time to time after opening a 41-27 lead in the third quarter and, on the other end, VES had trouble finding its rhythm against the Bulldogs’ pressure defense.

“They stepped up their defense and made it a little frantic,“ Watkins said.

“They made us rush and speed up our game.“