Marty O'Brien
12-02-2010, 10:16 PM
By Marty O'Brien
Daily Press
The best girls basketball rivalry in the Bay Rivers District added another chapter to its increasingly entertaining history on Thursday.
Ebony Weddington buried a pull-up jumper from 17 feet with 8.0 seconds remaining to give visiting York a 38-37 season-opening win over Tabb. Weddington, a 6-foot senior, scored a game-high 20 points, but her game-winning jumper accounted for her only points of the fourth quarter.
Her basket was reminiscent of Tia Perry’s length-of-the-court drive a year ago for a layup to give Tabb a 42-41 victory in the district tournament championship game. Weddington made her drive with the Falcons trailing by a point, after grabbing the rebound when Tabb’s Emily Piazza missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15.1 seconds remaining.
Weddington did not go all the way to the hole – a la Perry, who now plays for Christopher Newport University – because she lost track of the time amid all of the excitement.
“I didn’t think there was enough time for me to get all the way to the basket,” said Weddington, who is leaning toward playing on scholarship for Division I Delaware State University. “I was nervous about the pull-up jumper, but I knew I was going to make it when I let it go.”
Following Weddington’s basket, the Tigers (0-1) drove down court and missed a 10-foot baseline jumper that would’ve won the game. The Falcons (1-0) closed the game on a 6-0 run in the final minute to snatch the victory.
The Tigers led 37-32 with 1:23 to go, after Piazza stripped Weddington of the ball and drove for a layup. The Falcons cut the lead to 37-34 with just under a minute to play on a layup by Brianna Daniel.
Weddington followed by blocking a Tabb shot to give York possession, but missed two 3-point attempts that would’ve tied it, before Jen Pandolf missed a shot. But Daniel rebounded Pandolf’s miss to cut the Tabb lead to 37-36 with 18 seconds remaining.
The Falcons fouled Piazza quickly to stop the clock with 15.1 seconds left. When she missed the free throw, Weddington drove down for the game-winner under heavy pressure.
Fact is, the Tigers put heavy defensive pressure on Weddington throughout the second half. Weddington scored 13 first-half points and Tabb’s Natalie Joseph eight as the teams were tied 21-21 at halftime.
That Tabb was right in the thick of it was impressive, because defensive ace Diana Kinney did not play. Kinney, a soccer star, did not play because she played missed some practices for playing in a soccer tournament overseas. …something Tigers coach Amber Thorckmorton said was understandable, but nonetheless required Kinney to sit because of team rules.
“We switched from a man-to-man and went into a 2-3 zone and did a fine job,” Throckmorton said of Tabb’s second-half defensive effort on Weddington. “I’m proud of the effort we gave.
“I don’t think York beat us. It was our own mental mistakes.”
Among those, Throckmorton said, was failing to box out on the late offensive rebounds York snagged, and trying to score while up three points on the shot that Weddington blocked with fewer than 30 seconds left.
The Tigers got good floor leadership from Piazza and a solid performance inside from promising freshman Brooke Mahan, who scored a team-high 12 points. The game was tied at 28-all heading into the fourth quarter, before Mahan scored five points and Piazza four to give Tabb a 37-32 lead with 1:23 left.
But York made the late run, and added another chapter to rivalry lore on Weddington’s shot.
“This is about what we thought,” York coach Tim Knapp said. “As young as my team is, we knew, especially at the beginning, it’s going to be a lot of Ebony, Ebony, Ebony.
“At the same time, the message to them is that we had two 10th graders (Daniel and Pandolf) hit pressure shots to pull us back in there. I don’t know what else to say about Ebony.
“I’ll probably be saying a lot about her this year.”
Said Throckmorton, "I know our girls are disappointed, but it's a learning experience for them. It wasn't a matter of us not playing hard or not wanting it bad enough - we just made some mental mistakes at the most crucial time.
"Ebony Weddington is a great player and she just came up and made a great play - just like Tia (Perry) did."
YORK 38, TABB 37
YORK (1-0, 1-0 Bay Rivers): Pandolf 10, Daniel 4, Zentner 2, Weddington 20, Bennett 2. Totals 17 3-8 38.
TABB (0-1, 0-1): Piazza 9, Macfarlane 2, Turner 2, Mahan 12, Joseph 8, Candusso 4. 12 13-24 37
York 12 9 7 10 – 38
Tabb 5 16 7 9 – 37
3-point goal: York, Weddington.
Daily Press
The best girls basketball rivalry in the Bay Rivers District added another chapter to its increasingly entertaining history on Thursday.
Ebony Weddington buried a pull-up jumper from 17 feet with 8.0 seconds remaining to give visiting York a 38-37 season-opening win over Tabb. Weddington, a 6-foot senior, scored a game-high 20 points, but her game-winning jumper accounted for her only points of the fourth quarter.
Her basket was reminiscent of Tia Perry’s length-of-the-court drive a year ago for a layup to give Tabb a 42-41 victory in the district tournament championship game. Weddington made her drive with the Falcons trailing by a point, after grabbing the rebound when Tabb’s Emily Piazza missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15.1 seconds remaining.
Weddington did not go all the way to the hole – a la Perry, who now plays for Christopher Newport University – because she lost track of the time amid all of the excitement.
“I didn’t think there was enough time for me to get all the way to the basket,” said Weddington, who is leaning toward playing on scholarship for Division I Delaware State University. “I was nervous about the pull-up jumper, but I knew I was going to make it when I let it go.”
Following Weddington’s basket, the Tigers (0-1) drove down court and missed a 10-foot baseline jumper that would’ve won the game. The Falcons (1-0) closed the game on a 6-0 run in the final minute to snatch the victory.
The Tigers led 37-32 with 1:23 to go, after Piazza stripped Weddington of the ball and drove for a layup. The Falcons cut the lead to 37-34 with just under a minute to play on a layup by Brianna Daniel.
Weddington followed by blocking a Tabb shot to give York possession, but missed two 3-point attempts that would’ve tied it, before Jen Pandolf missed a shot. But Daniel rebounded Pandolf’s miss to cut the Tabb lead to 37-36 with 18 seconds remaining.
The Falcons fouled Piazza quickly to stop the clock with 15.1 seconds left. When she missed the free throw, Weddington drove down for the game-winner under heavy pressure.
Fact is, the Tigers put heavy defensive pressure on Weddington throughout the second half. Weddington scored 13 first-half points and Tabb’s Natalie Joseph eight as the teams were tied 21-21 at halftime.
That Tabb was right in the thick of it was impressive, because defensive ace Diana Kinney did not play. Kinney, a soccer star, did not play because she played missed some practices for playing in a soccer tournament overseas. …something Tigers coach Amber Thorckmorton said was understandable, but nonetheless required Kinney to sit because of team rules.
“We switched from a man-to-man and went into a 2-3 zone and did a fine job,” Throckmorton said of Tabb’s second-half defensive effort on Weddington. “I’m proud of the effort we gave.
“I don’t think York beat us. It was our own mental mistakes.”
Among those, Throckmorton said, was failing to box out on the late offensive rebounds York snagged, and trying to score while up three points on the shot that Weddington blocked with fewer than 30 seconds left.
The Tigers got good floor leadership from Piazza and a solid performance inside from promising freshman Brooke Mahan, who scored a team-high 12 points. The game was tied at 28-all heading into the fourth quarter, before Mahan scored five points and Piazza four to give Tabb a 37-32 lead with 1:23 left.
But York made the late run, and added another chapter to rivalry lore on Weddington’s shot.
“This is about what we thought,” York coach Tim Knapp said. “As young as my team is, we knew, especially at the beginning, it’s going to be a lot of Ebony, Ebony, Ebony.
“At the same time, the message to them is that we had two 10th graders (Daniel and Pandolf) hit pressure shots to pull us back in there. I don’t know what else to say about Ebony.
“I’ll probably be saying a lot about her this year.”
Said Throckmorton, "I know our girls are disappointed, but it's a learning experience for them. It wasn't a matter of us not playing hard or not wanting it bad enough - we just made some mental mistakes at the most crucial time.
"Ebony Weddington is a great player and she just came up and made a great play - just like Tia (Perry) did."
YORK 38, TABB 37
YORK (1-0, 1-0 Bay Rivers): Pandolf 10, Daniel 4, Zentner 2, Weddington 20, Bennett 2. Totals 17 3-8 38.
TABB (0-1, 0-1): Piazza 9, Macfarlane 2, Turner 2, Mahan 12, Joseph 8, Candusso 4. 12 13-24 37
York 12 9 7 10 – 38
Tabb 5 16 7 9 – 37
3-point goal: York, Weddington.