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Sunday, March 09, 2008

Titans seize Bees

Hidden Valley uses a fast start to reach the semis.

Hidden Valley's reserves cheer from the sidelines during the Titans' 42-30 win over Brookville in the Group AA quarterfinals Saturday at Northside High School.

Photos by JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times

Hidden Valley's reserves cheer from the sidelines during the Titans' 42-30 win over Brookville in the Group AA quarterfinals Saturday at Northside High School.

Hidden Valley's Abby Oliver (right) drives by Brookville's Emilee Dunton.

Hidden Valley's Abby Oliver (right) drives by Brookville's Emilee Dunton.

Hidden Valley's Abby Redick (left) drives on Brookville's Brittany Campbell in the second quarter of Saturday's game at Northside High School.

Photos by JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times

Hidden Valley's Abby Redick (left) drives on Brookville's Brittany Campbell in the second quarter of Saturday's game at Northside High School.

Hidden Valley's Kayla Osborne looks to pass the basketball as she is guarded by Brookville's Emilee Dunton.

Hidden Valley's Kayla Osborne looks to pass the basketball as she is guarded by Brookville's Emilee Dunton.

The Hidden Valley girls' and boys' basketball teams both have to be pretty excited about returning to Richmond for their second consecutive Group AA final four appearances this coming week.

But they really wouldn't mind skipping the trip and holding the championships in Northside's gym.

Both Hidden Valley teams seemed so comfortable playing their respective state quarterfinal games there this weekend; it's almost become a second home.

Just as their male counterparts did in the green-and-gold confines Friday night, the Titan girls employed an oppressive defense and scored points in bunches, knocking off Brookville 42-30 Saturday to earn a trip to Richmond. Hidden Valley will face Greensville County on Thursday afternoon in VCU's Siegel Center.

The victory was particularly significant because the Bees (26-2) drilled Hidden Valley at home by 15 points (59-44) in the Titans' season opener.

Titans junior forward Abby Redick missed that game because of an ankle sprain. She was at full strength this time, scoring the game's first basket 17 seconds in.

"We had a lot of emotion early," Redick said.

"We couldn't have gotten off to a better start," said Titans coach Mike McGuire, whose career record stands at 53-5.

In Saturday's first 312 minutes, the Titans outscored their opponents 13-0, with Redick scoring six points and point guard Abby Oliver scoring seven.

The Titans connected on six of their first seven shots from the field. In the meantime, the Bees committed two offensive fouls, missed a couple of shots and committed two other turnovers.

Brookville, which won the first 26 games of the season before losing the Region III final to Waynesboro last Saturday, ended its year on a two-game losing streak.

"They stuck it to us early," said Brookville coach Warner Dyke. "They got in our grill. They manned us up mano a mano. They got a 13-point lead and it stayed there. They wouldn't let us cut into it.

"How many points did Hidden Valley score tonight -- 42? If you'd told me before the game we would hold them to 42, I'd have said, 'Yeah, I like our chances.'"

Brookville played the Titans evenly the last 3 12 quarters, but did not shoot well enough to close the gap.

The Bees were 11-of-37 (29.7 percent) from the floor.

"Great teams don't let you shoot well," Dyke said. "Of course, our team hung in there. We could have packed up the tents and lost by 25, but we didn't."

Oliver (19 points), Redick (10 points) and post player Kylee Beecher (13) accounted for all of Hidden Valley's scoring, and the winners got a scare early in the fourth quarter when Oliver turned her ankle and came out of the game and Beecher picked up her fourth foul just a few seconds later.

"To be honest, we panicked a little bit with two senior starters going down," McGuire said, "But I reminded our team we were still in the lead."

Oliver returned to the game after a minute's rest and made six free throws down the stretch.

"My ankle loosened back up [during the break on the bench]," Oliver said. "It's getting stiff now, but I'll be fine."

Brookville's 6-foot seniors Joyous Tharrington -- the Seminole District player of the year -- and Brittany Campbell scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, representing 80 percent of their team's scoring.

But Campbell was just 3-of-15 from the floor.

"She's a great shooter," said Beecher, who will be a teammate of Campbell's next year at Liberty University. "She just didn't have her best game tonight."

BROOKVILLE (26-2)

Campbell 3 3-4 11, Tharrington 5 3-4 13, Dunton 2 0-0 4, Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Stanley 1 0-0 2, Sharman 0 0-2 0, Pettyjohn 0 0-0 0, Torres 0 0-0 0, Deacon 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 6-10 30.

HIDDEN VALLEY (24-4)

Redick 4 2-3 10, Osborne 0 0-0 0, Oliver 6 7-7 19, Beecher 5 3-5 13, Crotty 0 0-2 0, Divers 0 0-0 0, Myers0 0-0 0. Totals 15 12-17 42.

Brookville 6 6 9 10 -- 30

Hidden Valley 17 6 11 8 -- 42

3-point goals -- Brookville 2 (Campbell 2). Total fouls -- Brookville 17, Hidden Valley 13. Fouled out -- Dunton.

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