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vs. Heights
On Monday, February 10th, the Varsity Girls Basketball Team played Heights in round one of the Bi-District Playoffs at Delmar Stadium. Sophomore guard, Tess Stephenson, the team's leading scorer, was out with an illness. The Spartans faced Heights without her as well as Senior point guard Rachel Ashby in the season's second game, when volleyball was still in play. The Spartans won 65-24 when the Bulldogs were also depleted by volleyball.
Heights came out gunning, going right at the Spartans and led by six before one could blink. Senior forward Kendall Davis put her team's first points on the board with a drive from the paint. Senior guard Aria Taylor snared an offensive rebound, spun, and scored. Ashby stole the ball and put it in the basket. Taylor drove from the right wing for a pull-up, five-foot jumper. Ashby delivered a lefty, one-handed dart to Senior guard Layla Lloyd on the left block for an easy conversion. Heights contested most Spartans' possessions in the paint during the quarter while shooting 66% on the other end. Taylor delivered an assist to Freshman guard Ava Gibson from the right wing, and the quarter ended with the Spartans down, 12-18.
Sophomore guard Camille Warren grabbed an offensive rebound and found Lloyd on the outside for two. Warren then hit Taylor for a 15-footer off the out-of-bounds play. Ashby had a steal and downcourt pass to Sophomore guard Riley O'Connor, who dropped in a 12-footer. Heights' shooting cooled considerably. O'Connor made a terrific defensive stand, bottling up two consecutive Bulldogs by swiftly jumping her opponent's drives. Taylor hit O'Connor on a fast-break for a score that tied the game at 20-20 with 1:10 on the clock. Senior forward Bella Perroni stripped a defender under the basket. Ashby followed by blocking a last-second three-pointer and it was knotted at the half.
Davis secured an offensive rebound and spied Taylor on the outside, who knocked down a long two to take the first lead of the game. Ashby hit Taylor in the left corner for a three-pointer. Taylor reciprocated with an assist to Ashby for a trey, and it was 28-22, Spartans. The game felt in hand. But a series of lapses and rejuvenated shooting by Heights made it 30-32 when the third quarter ended, with the Bulldogs in the lead.
The game periodically was a series of Allstate "Mayhem" commercials. The house could have caught fire. The car might have been driven off the road. But Stratford was protected from cut-rate insurance by the good hands of Ashby. Lloyd delivered a right-wing to left-wing pass to Taylor for a 16-footer. Taylor was a microwave, heating up and cooling down. She stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a pull-up jumper. The Spartans were back on top 34-32. Ashby pulled off a steal and delivered a pass to O'Connor for a 10-footer. Then there was bedlam, nay Mayhem. Ashby emerged from it with the ball and got it to O'Connor, who was fouled on her shot. She made one of two, and it was 37-34. Mayhem again. Then O'Connor secured a loose ball and Head Coach Audrisa Harrison called timeout with 3:26 remaining. The Spartans didn't score, but on the other end, Ashby came away with a defensive rebound and turned it into a fast-break layup by O'Connor. Heights made a three. O'Connor to Lloyd to Davis for a layup made it 41-37. The Spartans began to bleed the clock, but Lloyd saw her opening and dropped in a three. Heights immediately did the same. It was 44-40 with under a minute to play. Heights was forced to repeatedly foul to stop the clock until Stratford was in the Bonus. Ashby converted one of two. Perroni grabbed the miss and retained possession. Ashby was fouled, making one of two again, and then secured her own miss as the ball was heading out-of-bounds. Perroni sealed the win with 14 seconds remaining, dropping in a free throw to make it 47-40 when the final horn sounded.
Taylor led with 15 points plus seven rebounds. O'Connor had nine points. Lloyd had eight points. Ashby had seven points, six rebounds, six steals, and five assists. Davis had seven rebounds.
vs. Fulshear
On Thursday, February 13th, the Spartans took the floor in round two to face the Fulshear Chargers, who were formidable. Ashby forced a turnover, and Davis ended up at the foul line, converting both free throws after she was fouled on her shot. Stephenson stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for two to take an early 4-0 lead. Then she nailed a step-back 15-footer. The Chargers made their second trey. Ashby delivered a long pass to Stephenson for two. Taylor found Gibson on the right block to go up 10-6. Fulshear was tall, long, fast and attacked relentlessly. The Spartans nevertheless took an 11-8 lead to end the quarter.
The Chargers were also tough to block out and defend. They spread the court with seemingly every player capable of the three. When the Spartans' defense was stretched, the Chargers attacked the basket. Ashby, aggressive herself, drove hard, and was fouled on the shot, making both free throws. Gibson put an offensive rebound into the net to make it 15-12. Stephenson was blanketed. By season's end, she had become a marked player by teams with any ability to try to defend her. Every other move she made toward the basket resulted in her meeting at least two Fulshear defenders. Ashby was also well-covered as the opponent too often took away her passing lanes. The Chargers made a three. Stephenson scored, assist to Ashby. Stephenson followed by splitting the defense for a bucket to make it 19-19. The Chargers made a three. Ashby found herself surprisingly open and swished a trey. The Spartans were down by two to end the half.
Stephenson drove from the arc for a layup. She followed with a defensive rebound, and on the other end, delivered an assist to Davis for two. The Spartans were up, 26-24. Fulshear made a three. Davis was called for a travel that wasn't, negating a bucket. Taylor hit Gibson underneath for two. Fulshear made four consecutive three-pointers. They were so spread out, it was tough to defend. On offense, the Spartans had no margin for error. That's a tough proposition. Perroni put back an offensive rebound. Fulshear made another three. Notre Dame's Women's Basketball Team is the best three-point shooting team in the nation at the moment, converting 41% of their treys. The Chargers had made 52% to this point. It was 32-53 in the blink of eight game-minutes.
Ashby found Stephenson down low for a bucket. Stephenson followed with a steal and a pull-up three. Gibson, Davis, Ashby, and Stephenson all made great offensive and defensive plays that were for naught when it came to points scored as the clock ran down. Davis nailed a shot from the right elbow. Stephenson dropped in a long three, assist to Ashby, to make it 42-56. With 2:20 remaining, Coach Harrison relaxed the pressure. O'Connor knocked in a three with the assist from Senior guard Katherine Cronin. O'Connor tipped a loose ball to Warren for a basket at the buzzer, and the postseason ended, as all do except for the winner of a championship game, with a loss, 47-59.
The team gathered at the bench. There were smiles and laughs, tears and hugs. They had one last huddle. Then more hugs and emotion. The Spartans walked to greet their family and friends gathered in the stands, amid applause and appreciation for a terrific season. Then the girls walked into the tunnel and out of sight.
Stephenson somehow scored 20 points plus six rebounds. Ashby had seven points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Davis scored seven points. Gibson had six rebounds. The four-year stretch of this season's seniors is unparalleled at Stratford.
This is the most successful four-year stretch in Stratford Girls' Basketball history:
Most successful playoff stretch (2x Area Finalist, Program best Regional Quarterfinalist = 4-3 playoff record) vs. previous best 2011-15 (1x Bi-District appearance, 2x Area Finalist = 2-3 playoff record), which was 4A classification the first three years, then one 5A year
Kudos to Seniors Aria Taylor, Bella Perroni, Ella O'Connor (who chose to be Team Manager after three years of significant contribution on the floor), Emerson Berg, Gretchen Loveless, Katherine Cronin, Kendall Davis, Layla Lloyd, Megan Hallmark, and Rachel Ashby for representing the Spartans like none that have come before.