Stifling defense leads Royals past Sabers into state championship game
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Ashley Bates, junior, and Bianca Williams, senior, hit the whip during pre-game introductions.
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T’aire Starks, senior, boxes out a Saber in the semifinal state game against Shakopee.
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Dee Dee Winston, sophomore, plays defense in the semifinal state game against Shakopee.
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Nia Hollie, junior, watches a free throw in the state semifinal game against Shakopee.
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T’aire Starks, senior, plays defense in the state semifinal game against Shakopee.
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Ashley Bates, junior, plays defense in the state semifinal game against Shakopee.
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T’aire Starks, senior, shoots a free throw in the semifinal state game against Shakopee.
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Evelyn Knox, senior, takes the ball up the court in the state semifinal game against Shakopee last season. Knox and the Royals will try to defeat the top-ranked Sabers tonight.
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Evelyn Knox, junior, plays defense in the state semifinal game against Shakopee.
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T’aire Starks, senior, plays defense in the state semifinal game against Shakopee.
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Girls basketball bench watches the state semifinal game against Shakopee.
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Mar 19, 2015
An oft-repeated cliché in sports is “defense wins championships.” Tonight, the girls basketball team’s defensive pressure has them one win away from their fourth state championship in five years.
The Royals knew the Shakopee Sabers weren’t going to be a walkover, as the Sabers are led by North Carolina commit Taylor Koenen, junior, who averages 20.6 points per game. Both Koenen and Royals guard TT Starks, senior, were named to the Star Tribune all-metro first team.
“Taylor is a phenomenal player and we knew we had to shut her down in order to win this game,” said Nia Hollie, junior. “We put our best defender on her and then kept fresh bodies on her all night.”
Early in the game, scoring was in short supply as the Royals and Sabers seemed shaken by the Williams Arena spotlight. After a Hollie layup that put the Royals in front 15-10, the girls went on a 11-0 run midway through the first half to take a commanding 26-10 lead.
With a 14-point lead and 45 seconds left in the half, the Royals held the ball to prepare for their last shot. As evidenced by the fan section’s reaction to this strategy, the Shakopee community has obviously not forgotten last year’s boys basketball four-OT state semifinal win over the Sabers in which Kamali Chambers held the ball for much of the four overtimes.
“Guess they’re still not over it,” said Bianca Williams, senior.
The Royals couldn’t convert on the final shot as they headed into the Williams Arena locker room up 37-23.
In the second half, the Royals displayed a defensive effort that was simply incredible. It took six minutes and 48 seconds for the Sabers to get their first basket. A 22-4 run by the Royals left the Sabers in the dust as the Royals cruised to a 64-33 victory.
“We kept our intensity throughout the whole game and kept the pressure on them,” said Deanna Winston, sophomore.
This win sends the Royals to the state championship game, where they will face 2014 state champions Eastview. With the Royals’ only loss of the season coming against Eastview and the Lightning’s only loss coming against the Royals, the championship game should be intense.
“We’re happy we got the win [tonight], but we’re not done yet,” said Ashley Bates, junior. “We still have unfinished business.”