GAMES
RANKINGS
Dulles senior guard Peyton Overton scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds Tuesday to lead the Vikings to the regional tournament for the first time since 2008-2009.
Overton leads Dulles to 1st regional semifinal since ’09
KATY—Late during Tuesday’s Class 6A Region III quarterfinal against Tompkins, Dulles senior guard Peyton Overton addressed her teammates.
“We’ve been here before, y’all!” Overton bellowed. “We’ve been here before!”
The veteran team, with a roster of 10 seniors, certainly has. Adversity is no stranger to these Vikings. Trials are embraced as much as the triumphs.
And Tuesday was a definitive triumph.
Overton talked the talk and then strutted the walk, scoring six of her team-high 29 points in overtime to lead Dulles to a 64-59 win over Tompkins at the Merrell Center in a rematch of last year’s regional quarterfinal.
The Falcons, which ended their year 35-4, won that round. But the Vikings exacted revenge, and in doing so punched their ticket to the regional tournament for the first time since 2008-2009.
Dulles (27-6) plays Summer Creek at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Merrell Center in the regional semifinal.
“Most of us are seniors, so this is our last ride,” said Overton, who added a game-high 15 rebounds. “We want it even more. It was a game that was an exact repeat from last year, and that hurt so bad. It was tough last year. We didn’t want to go down in the third round again. We made it happen.”
The game was a back-and-forth hurrah, with Overton pacing Dulles and junior guard Macy Spencer (33 points) leading Tompkins.
Both players showed off terrific shooting and scoring skills. Spencer made nine two-point baskets, all nine of her free throw attempts, and two 3-pointers. Overton made four two-point baskets, nine of 10 free throws, and four of seven 3-point attempts.
“I was just attacking the gaps and involving my teammates as well,” said Overton, who entered Tuesday averaging 10.3 points this season. “As a team, we were seeing where they were coming from and just finding the open man.”
With senior guard Dai Dai Powell, the team’s second-leading scorer, having a rare off game offensively with three points, Overton was huge for the Vikings.
“Any one of these girls can have a lights-out night,” coach Christina Jamerson said. “For Peyton, tonight was her night. It’s awesome to see her step up. We know when someone may be off, someone else will step up. That’s what I’m so proud of about these girls. I love the fact that they step up for each other.”
Tompkins’ Bella Riggan put the Falcons up, 46-45, on an offensive putback with 2:20 left in regulation. Overton hit one of two free throws with 1:57 left to tie it up.
With 15.3 seconds left, Spencer found senior guard Brooklynn Nash wide open for a layup to put Tompkins ahead, 48-46. After a timeout, Dulles went the length of the floor.
A broken play ended with senior guard Nya Threatt delivering a quick, heads-up pass to a diving Alima Diop for the game-tying lay-in as time expired.
“We had a totally different play in mind,” said Threatt, who had 17 points, seven rebounds, and five steals. “The play was to try and get it to Pey, but it didn’t work out that way. So, we kind of just scrambled at the end, and we were able to make it count. I was just trying to get it to the open person. I saw Ali wide open.”
Dulles held off an overtime rampage from Spencer, who scored nine of Tompkins’ 11 points in the extra session. The Vikings got scoring in overtime from four players, whereas the Falcons had two players score in the OT.
“It’s easy for us to play together,” Threatt said. “We’ve all been playing together a long time now. We do a good job of keeping our composure and we’re able to get it.”
Free-throw shooting proved crucial down the stretch for the Vikings, who hit 12 of 13 in the four-minute overtime.
“We got a chance to keep fighting and we got a chance to prove ourselves,” Overton said. “That’s what we did.”
Overall, Dulles made 31 of 40 free throws. Tompkins made 14 of 18.
“I told them all the same thing,” said Jamerson, in her first season at the helm of Dulles. “Play aggressive, play smart, play together, play hard, play together, and play to win. And have fun.”
The Vikings did. And the reward is going somewhere they have not been in 13 years as a program.
“We want it so bad and we’re going to keep fighting,” Overton said. “That’s all we know.”
Tompkins is 35-3, the most wins in program history.
Gritty Tompkins escapes Stratford in OT to advance to regional quarters
KATY—Thirty-eight games into the season, Tompkins’ girls basketball team is still searching for its identity. The defense is leaky. The offense is discombobulated.
But, despite all that, the Falcons keep winning. On Friday evening, Tompkins won its second straight overtime playoff game, eluding Stratford, 57-51, in their Class 6A area game at the Merrell Center.
The Falcons are 35-3, the most wins in program history. And yet not all is right.
“We’re still struggling,” coach Tamatha Ray said. “I think there’s cracks in our zone (defensively), and once you get this far, people are going to figure it out. The thing about that particular defense is the 3-ball has to go in, and it was for them. Offensively, we’ve got to do better. Their game-plan is going to be to take (junior guard) Macy (Spencer) out, and then taking (senior guard) Brooklynn (Nash) out. We had opportunities, but we missed layups, putbacks. When your top players are being taken out, the little buckets have to go in, and they didn’t.”
And, still, Tompkins is back in the regional quarterfinals for a rematch with Dulles on Tuesday. For all the issues, the Falcons did what they had to do to win.
“This team loves to fight,” Spencer said. “Even in tough situations, we always pull through. We have a lot of grit, and we have what it takes.”
With Stratford’s seven 3s taking advantage of Tompkins’ zone defense early and often, the Spartans, the fourth seed out of District 17-6A, kept close throughout until late in the game, when the Falcons switched to a man defense.
Tompkins went on a quick 8-0 spree between the third and fourth quarters to lead 43-34 with 6:06 left in regulation before Stratford stormed back to tie it, 47-47, on Jasmine Green’s spinning loft shot with 6.9 seconds left.
But the Falcons, even with Spencer being face-guarded and Nash gimpy on an ailing knee, had one more run in them, eventually putting Stratford away for good. Tompkins made 10-of-10 free throws in the extra period and held the Spartans to four points.
The Falcons held George Ranch to four points in overtime in their bi-district playoff game Tuesday.
“Honestly, we’re used to it by now,” said Nash, who had a game-high 21 points and is averaging 19 points in the postseason. “We know what to do and we know how to handle it and we know what needs to get done at the end of the day.”
With another defense determined to take away Spencer, who was scoreless in the first half and was face-guarded the entire second half and overtime, Nash was, again, heroic.
She scored 10 points in the first half and six in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“I know I need to step up, and I know I have to step up if we’re going to continue to go far and win in the playoffs,” Nash said. “I know any game could be my last game. I’m going to play my hardest and go all out for the entire 32 minutes.”
Ray said Nash is simply taking over.
“She understands the mortality of her senior year. She doesn’t want it to end,” Ray said. “She’s a quiet leader in practice and the locker room, but once she gets on the court, you can’t help but follow that kid.”
Spencer is the Falcons’ leading scorer, able to score effortlessly at all three levels because of her size and ballhandling skills. But in the playoffs, George Ranch and Stratford have made admirable efforts to limit her touches and, at the very least, keep her from getting into a rhythm.
Spencer has had her moments. She scored 21 against George Ranch and 15 against Stratford, including nine in the fourth quarter and overtime. But she is still learning how to counter the invasive defenses thrown her way.
“It’s been hard. I’m not used to it,” said Spencer, who made her impact elsewhere with seven steals, five rebounds, and four assists. “(Assistant) Coach (Robert) Ownby and Coach Ray are telling me to make a lot of cuts, back cuts, and people will set screens. I’m learning this year what all that’s like. I’ve been getting mentally tougher.”
Ray said it’s been a process helping the precocious Spencer through the frustration.
“She’s never had that in-your-face defense before,” Ray said. “We’ve got to do a better job helping her with what she’s supposed to do, and she’s got to learn. Standing and waiting for the ball to come to you isn’t going to be the answer.”
The Falcons are optimistic they can figure it out. They are not playing their best basketball and are out of sorts in a lot of ways, but they’re winning.
Surviving and advancing.
“I love the fight,” Ray said. “The guts, the grit. That’s definitely something I can’t coach into them. They’ve got that piece, and as long as they have that, we can keep going. They believe in each other.”