Stepping Up in the Clutch

After a lopsided first quarter the game between Marion (13th in 4A) and Williamsburg (7th in 3A) finished in dramatic fashion in overtime last night, with Williamsburg winning by 3. As the game got tighter and stakes got higher I noticed a few standouts who stepped up and made plays their respective teams. Continue reading to see who stepped up with clutch buckets and who made big-time stops in crunch time.    Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1044937' first='Ellie' last='Morris'] pulled out one of her best performances of her young career last night with a number of big buckets for the Wolves. Starting the game with a smooth midrange stepback in the first half, Morris surged for 10 points in the second to help push her team to overtime. She scored in different ways, too — rim running after a made bucket, hitting a trailer three pointer, and finished an and-1 drive from a shot fake on the perimeter. I loved Morris' energy last night and how she stepped up with poise and toughness for her team.     [player_tooltip player_id='896456' first='Carly' last='Rich'], in my opinion, was the star of the show last night. She started off the game with a bang, scoring six straight points (all in different ways) and continued this hot streak through the overtime period. Rich is a really smart player who is a solid floor general for her Williamsburg squad — she directs her teammates in theoir offense, is a positive communicator, and doesn't get phased by adversity. When Williamsburg was down by two in OT, Rich hit a defender with a shot fake, side-stepped, and drained a momentum-shifting three that would put the Raiders up for good. Rich is a kid anyone would want on their team and knows how to get it done in the clutch.     I really liked Harlow's adjustments throughout the game and thought she came up with some big plays for Marion. Griffin has a good feel for the game and positions herself really well on the floor — whether it's an angle on a ball screen or position in the post, Griffin is fundamental and knows where to be on the floor. Offensively, Griffin stepped up in the second half with a handful of clutch buckets — off of a spin move in the paint, an excellent seal up the lane for a lob over top, and a huge trailer three. She also has excellent timing and swatted a few shots in the paint too.     [player_tooltip player_id='1056799' first='Ava' last='Hocker'] needs to pat herself on the back for her defensive performance last night. She was on her A-Game against Marion's top scorer and really hustled to match up against her every possession late in the game. In overtime Hocker came up clutch by ripping the ball out of an opponent's hands, then followed it up a few possessions later with another steal by chasing down the ball handler in transition. To cap off her performance, Hocker ripped baseline and finished a two-footed floater as the shotclock was running low. I was really impressed with Hocker's resilience and intuition last night.     If there was an award for toughest player, I would have given it to [player_tooltip player_id='1143199' first='Grace' last='Whalen'] last night. She came up big for her team offensively in a number of ways, including sprinting the floor for back-to-back layups to start the comeback for Marion. After fighting for an offensive rebound and splitting her chin on the floor in the second half, Whalen returned to the game soon after to help make big stops for her team. Playing the top of an aggressive zone, Whalen has excellent body positioning on defense and contributed to multiple big stops as the fourth quarter expired.     A number of possessions in last night's game featured good decision-making, high-energy plays from senior [player_tooltip player_id='1143201' first='Makenna' last='Hughes']. She is a pesky defender and super fundamental off the dribble — anytime Hughes drove into the paint, she finished with a strong jump stop and hit multiple teammates for scores. She also posted up and found an open cross-court shooter for a three. Hughes found points for herself from a nice give and go layup at the start of the third quarter to give the Raiders a boost as well.

After a lopsided first quarter the game between Marion (13th in 4A) and Williamsburg (7th in 3A) finished in dramatic fashion in overtime last night, with Williamsburg winning by 3. As the game got tighter and stakes got higher I noticed a few standouts who stepped up and made plays their respective teams. Continue reading to see who stepped up with clutch buckets and who made big-time stops in crunch time.