Charles City stuns ARGS for T-RD tourney title

Charles City’s Lady Panthers are all smiles after they defeated the ARGS Lady Dragons 61-58 in the Tri-Rivers District tourney championship. Team members are (kneeling, l to r) Ke’Ara Jones, Jessica Hill, and Hailey Holmes. Behind them are (l to r) Mary Black and Cheyenne Davis. Standing (l to r) are Adrienne Miles, Kayla Otey, Sara Whitehead, Taylor Bradby, Katherine Vinson, Meryah Bates, assistant coach Lauren Wood, Sydney Richard, head coach Vashaun Otey, and team manager Jermaine Johnson. Not pictured are team members Myonka Boyd, Santia Smith, and Adri Taylor.

Andre' Jones photos

Charles City Lady Panthers’ head coach Vashaun Otey took home one of his best birthday gifts ever– a championship trophy.

The third-seeded Lady Panthers pulled off the biggest upset in program history with a 61-58 victory over the top-seeded Appomattox Regional Governor’s School Lady Dragons in the Tri-Rivers District Tournament championship game at Surry.

Early on in the Feb. 16 contest, it appeared the designated hosts would run away from the Lady Panthers. Tri-Rivers co-player of the year Jakara White converted a three-point play and followed that with a steal and lay-up to put the Lady Dragons up 9-2. Her teammate and fellow co-player of the year Paris Brower added a lay-up to extend the lead to nine at the 4:37 mark of the opening quarter.

The Lady Panthers, the designated visiting team, responded with a 9-0 run, led by junior Jessica Hill who scored six. Baskets traded by both teams ended the first quarter knotted at 13 apiece.

The hosts took charge at the end of the second stanza. After a Charles City time out with 3:04 to go and the score tied at 19, ARGS put together an 11-3 run to end the quarter, as each Lady Dragon on the floor scored to make the scoreboard display a 30-22 advantage.

Charles City began its epic comeback in the third quarter. Down by 11 (35-24), Cheyenne Davis converted on a left handed lay-up from the middle of the lane. A Hill free throw coupled with a combination of an Adrienne Miles pull-up and a Sara Whitehead lay-up off a Hill steal cut the lead to four. Whitehead followed her score with a runner and Davis’ free throws would knot the game at 39 apiece before Brower’s put-back kept the top seed ahead 41-39 heading into the final quarter.

Transitioning into the frame, the Lady Panthers maximized opportunities from the charity stripe. Davis opened the quarter with four consecutive free throws giving the visitors a 43-41 lead, their first since the 4:52 mark of the second quarter. Charles City continued attacking the basket against the much taller Lady Dragons, eventually fouling two players out and saddling White and Brower with four fouls for the rest of the game.

Davis’ left handed lay-up gave the Lady Panthers a 47-44 lead, but White quickly responded with a three-point play to tie the game. The scoreboard would alternate leaders until the 1:57 mark when Davis would add two more free throws to put Charles City up 55-53.

A Davis free throw and Hill’s lay-up pushed the lead to five (58-53), the largest of the night for the underdogs. White responded with an easy conversion to cut the deficit back to three with 38.7 seconds remaining.

After another Davis free throw stretched the lead back to four. The hosts’ Melicia James connected with the only three-pointer on the night from in front of her bench, slicing the Lady Panther lead to 59-58 with 14.7 seconds left and allowing the Lady Dragons to take time out.

On the inbounds play, the Lady Panthers avoided ARGS attempts to foul immediately by firing crisp passes. Defenders, though, caught up to Miles, fouling her with 2.9 ticks on the clock. Miles calmly sank both free throws to account for the final margin.

The Lady Dragons took time out to draw up one final play. James grabbed the inbounds pass and took two dribbles before lofting a three-quarter court heave. The ball failed to reach the rim, securing the Lady Panthers’ upset of the seventh-ranked team in the state en route to their first championship in program history.

After the game, an emotional Otey spoke about the confidence his team had going into the finals.

“They kept saying at practice that they knew they could win,” said Otey. “They stepped up and we got into the bonus early.”

Getting to the stripe was key for the Lady Panthers whose shooting has been hovering around the 60 percent mark for the year. The Lady Panthers converted 31 of 46 free throws, a 67 percent clip for the game. By contrast, the Lady Dragons made only 13 of 25 attempts with nine misses coming from Brower, who came into the game shooting 80 percent from the line.

“We wanted to take out the big girls,” said Otey. “In order to win this game we had to disrupt their game and that meant getting Brower and White off the floor.”

The ploy worked as White sat for most of the first half saddled with two fouls and Brower became unable to carry the load due to lack of stamina. Now, the Lady Panthers move on to regional play, likely as a number two seed due to their tournament championship.

“We’re ready to go,” said Otey.

Charles City (15-5) placed four in double figures led by Davis’ 22 points. Hill tossed in 16, Miles added 11, and Whitehead finished with 10 while Kayla Otey chipped in one.

ARGS (19-3) received a game-high 24 from White.

Ke’Ara Jones splits the double team defensive effort of ARGS’ Julia Meredith (left) and Aja Boyd (right).