No fans, no sweat for VES
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Ted Allen / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 28, 2008
The Bishops not only got into the 10-team field, but they secured a No. 4 seed and had the chance to host fifth-seeded Seton School Thursday night, though there weren't many students there to see it.
What was their reward for their 67-36 victory- A first-ever trip to the state Final Four at defending champion Paul VI.
Less than an hour after beating Seton, the Bishops boarded a bus for a four-hour trip to Fairfax, where they will challenge second-seeded Highland School, last year's state runner-up.
VES had little trouble putting away their quarterfinal opponent from Manassas, establishing early domination in the paint and complementing that with a potent perimeter game.
Bishop juniors Jessica Watkins and Katie St. Clair led all scorers with 17 points apiece, with most of Watkins' coming inside and St. Clair's from beyond the arc. Watkins and St. Clair each posted double-doubles, with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Point guard Sarah Fiorito fed Kori Penick with a pass at the high post before she sent it in to Watkins down low for an easy basket before Watkins made a breakaway steal at the top of Seton's key and went in for an uncontested layup and an early 6-0 lead.
Kim Jefferson, the Bishops' leading scorer on the season, has a hand injury that allowed St. Clair to shoot more often than usual.
She capped the first-quarter scoring with her only 3 and was held to seven points, matching Penick and Fiorito, who started the second quarter with a trey of her own, extending the lead to 14-5.
Katerina Dema then assisted Watkins for a score in the left of the lane before Tori Hunter scored on a breakaway steal and layup and St. Clair swished the first of her four 3-pointers from the left wing, making it 21-8.
"Once our shots started falling, we started to pull away," VES coach Jim Clarke said. "We played well defensively and rebounded well on the defensive end. Our press helped us pull away."
The Bishops could be in for their toughest test of the season this afternoon.
"It'll be a major challenge," Clarke said. "If we take care of the ball, play good defense and take advantage of our opportunities - we should be able to hang in there and give them a game."
To beat Highland, the Bishops will need to rely on their guards to handle the press and capitalize on their post players' size advantage inside, as they did against Seton. Highland's tallest player is 5-foot-9.
"They press the whole floor and they like to run, but they'll hold the ball in their half-court offense if they get the lead," Clarke said. "They have five very good ballhandlers."
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