YORKTOWN—The James Monroe girls basketball team won games in a variety of ways this season, whether it be outrunning, outmuscling or simply overwhelming opponents with superior talent.
However, the Yellow Jackets had one thing in mind above all else entering their Virginia High School League Class 3 state semifinal showdown with Grafton on Friday night.
Defense. Relentless, suffocating defense.
JM pressured the host Clippers from start to finish, forcing 34 turnovers and advancing to the state championship game for the first time since 2002 with a decisive 64-48 victory.
The Jackets (25-0) will play Lord Botetourt (25-3) for the state title next Saturday at 11 a.m. at VCU’s Siegel Center in Richmond. Botetourt defeated Spotswood 57-39 in Friday’s other semifinal.
“We came in with a killer mindset on defense today,” JM guard Melanie Johnson said. “Our energy was incredible.”
It looked for a few minutes as if Grafton (22-4) wouldn’t be a victim of one of the Jackets’ patented early onslaughts. JM entered the evening having scored 22, 24 and 24 points, respectively, in the first quarter of its past three contests, but the score was deadlocked at 5-5 just over three minutes into Friday’s matchup.
Then came the turnovers. And the points flowed as a result of them.
The Clippers coughed the ball up 12 times in the first period, and it allowed the Jackets to rip off an extended 25-2 run that started with Daysha Salgado’s jumper in the lane with 4:44 to go in the stanza and ended on Jaylah Black’s stick-back at the 4:48 mark of the second quarter.
At that point, it was 30-7 and Grafton was shellshocked.
Much of the attention entering the game was on the Clippers’ Taylor Ragland, who came in averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds, six steals, five assists and three blocks per contest. And while the junior forward posted 20 points, 14 rebounds and four steals on Friday, much of her damage was done after the outcome was all but decided. She scored 10 of her points in the fourth period, with eight of those coming after the Jackets had built their biggest lead of the night, 60-29.
The assignment of keeping Ragland in check went to JM’s Kiyah Lewis, who was named the Region 3B player of the year earlier this week. The senior forward, who rang up a combined 69 points in the Jackets’ past two games, focused less on her offense and much more on her defense as a result.
“When I was told I had to guard [Ragland], I knew I’d have to play the best defense I’ve played this season,” said Lewis, who held Ragland to six points in the first half. “I think it showed, because I was able to limit the number of easy shots she got tonight.”
While Lewis’ scoring was down, she still paced JM with 13 points. Her lower-than-normal output didn’t matter though, as Johnson also tallied 13 points and fellow senior forward Daysha Salgado recorded 12.
“My teammates did a good job of picking me up on the offensive end,” Lewis said. “I’m proud of them for doing that, because I was really busting my butt on defense.”
Grafton had two other players reach double-figures aside from Ragland. Mya Napoleoni scored 12 points and Hope Barnard chipped in 11.
But Napoleoni, a sophomore guard, struggled mightily against the Jackets’ swarming defense, particularly early on. She committed nine turnovers in the first half and finished with 12 total. Backcourt mate Nathalia McIntyre didn’t fare much better, turning it over 10 times.
“Of course the approach was to put the most pressure on [Ragland] since she was their main scorer,” JM head coach Tameka Christopher said. “Kiyah did a great job with that, but our guards around her also did a great job and we played great help defense as a whole.”
Christopher was a sophomore on the last Jackets squad to play for a state title 23 years ago. At that time, the VHSL still held girls basketball in the fall and had not yet gone to a six-class system for all sports. JM suffered a painful 87-31 defeat at the hands of an undefeated J.J. Kelly team in the Group A championship game that season. But now, Christopher has the rare opportunity at a full-circle moment as she takes her unbeaten squad into next weekend’s title tilt.
“It’s a great feeling to get back to the [championship game],” she said. “But it will be a much better feeling when we get the job done.”
James Monroe 22 17 15 10 — 64
Grafton 7 11 9 21 — 48
James Monroe (25-0): Aniyah Kendall 0, Jaylah Black 8, Melanie Johnson 13, Alexia Robinson 6, Jaziah Banks 0, Kamira McConney 0, Kiyah Lewis 13, Finè Swain 3, Laila Taylor 0, T.C. Cole 0, Harmony Jones 9, Daysha Salgado 12. Totals: 25 11-19 64.
Grafton (22-4): Nathalia McIntyre 0, Lexi Collins 0, Tiffany O’Connell 2, Emerson Sweeney 3, Mya Napoleoni 12, Hope Barnard 11, Taylor Ragland 20. Totals: 18 7-11 48.
3-pointers: JM 3 (Black, Robinson, Swain). Grafton 5 (Barnard 3, Napoleoni 2).
