Centreville Girls Lose 50-43 to T.C. Williams in First Round of Regional Tournament

Sixty seconds changed the mood in Centreville’s first round Northern Region playoff game against T.C. Williams. Leading 22-15 with a minute remaining in the first half, the Wildcats were looking to head to halftime with a somewhat comfortable advantage against Patriot District runner-up T.C. Williams.

Then, Centreville blinked for and allowed T.C. Williams to make two 3-pointers in the final minute to close the Wildcats’ lead to 22-21.

Centreville later faltered in the second half, losing 50-43 to end the season.

“I told our girls in the locker room to look at the big picture,” Centreville coach Wallace Horton said. “We were 14-10 and had a winning season. Our goal at the beginning of the season was to make it to regionals. We got to regionals. We fell a little short and made some noise, just not enough.”

The closing minute of the first half loomed large for the Wildcats.

“It was huge,” Horton said. “We had a chance to be up nine or 10 and instead we were up by one and they had the ball coming in and scored and never looked back.”

Part of the reason for the Wildcats’ early lead was in large part to guard Jenna Green, who scored six points in the first half off two 3-pointers.

With Centreville’s early success, T.C. Williams changed their defensive approach up.

“We were getting beat down the floor over and over again,” T.C. Williams coach Kesha Walton said. “If it weren’t for them not capitalizing on some layups and turning the ball over, it probably would’ve been a different story.”

The Titans played with a more aggressive demeanor in the second half by showing off a more pressing style of defense. It resulted in a 19-4 run from the last minute of the second quarter all the way through the middle of the third quarter. The Wildcats only scored four third quarter points against the Titans’ aggressive look. T.C. Williams was led by guards Jasmine Norman (game-high 16 points) and Lauren Moss (14 points) who had impressive games on the perimeter.

Norman’s second 3-pointer of the game with 2:45 left in the third quarter gave the Titans a 32-24 lead. Centreville senior forward Taylor O’Hara converted on a 3-point play to bring the Wildcats within striking distance at 38-33 with 5:45 remaining in the game, but the Titans were too strong defensively to allow easy baskets.

 With less that three minutes remaining, Sade Barber received a deep outlet pass for a layup to bring the Titans’ lead to 46-37.

Centreville senior center Erin Meador’s low post bucket kept the Wildcats’ hopes alive with under a minute left to bring Centreville to within five points of T.C. Williams at 46-41. The Wildcats later turned the ball over with 47.9 seconds left and two successful free throws by T.C. Williams' Lauren Moss closed the game.

Two seniors, Erin Meador (12 points) and Taylor O’Hara (14 points) combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter for Centreville and didn’t give up late in the game.

“Erin is just the best player in the district. She wasn’t voted the player of the year in the district, but I felt she should’ve been,” Horton said. “Taylor is just a blue-collar, hard hat, lunch box [player]. She just busts her tail every time she goes out there."

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