Red-hot Covenant wins VIC tournament opener

The No. 4 seed Covenant boys basketball team entered its VIC Division II first-round contest with No. 5 Eastern Mennonite on quite the hot streak, having won its final five regular-season contests, which concluded with a 13-point upset of top-seeded North Cross. The Eagles (13-9) continued their winning ways with a 73-59 win over the Flames on Tuesday to set up a third meeting with the league’s top team in Thursday’s semifinal round.

Covenant used the long ball to create distance after an evenly matched first quarter, as the Eagles knocked down six 3-pointers in the second quarter. After scoring six straight points for the visitors, senior guard Jae White scored the first bucket of the period to give the Flames their only lead, 13-12. The Eagles responded with a 15-0 run, including three triples, which transformed the one-point deficit into a 14-point lead in a matter of just over four minutes.

“We’re a pretty good offensive team, we can get the ball in the basket,” said Covenant first-year head coach Travis Johnson after his first career postseason victory. “We shoot the ‘3’ almost as often as we shoot the ‘2’ and that is part of our offensive strategy, but also, part of our strategy is to sure up the defense and to make sure that [opponents] can’t score as many points as we do.”

EMHS senior forward Yona Daniel converted a three-point play less than a minute later to cut the lead to 29-18. Again, Covenant had an answer as Jeremiah Morris hit back-to-back 3s, and then junior floor general Boo Agee hit his third trifecta of the quarter on the next trip down. Agee ended the half with a nifty slice down the lane to push the halftime lead to 18, 40-22.

“Boo and I had a little heart-to-heart in January, and he was very receptive to what I had to say to him,” Johnson said of Agee, who scored 11 points in the stanza. “The thing is, he wants to get better, he wants to learn, and he has done a great job orchestrating and leading our team. He’s the general of our team on the floor, and as long as he continues to think, ‘team,’ which he’s been doing a great job of, he’s going to blossom in this offense that we have set up.”

The trend continued in the third quarter, as junior guard L.J. Morris connected on two of his three triples over the opening two minutes. The Eagles would lead by as much as 22, and took a 58-38 lead into the final quarter, when Johnson observed the most troubling aspect of the game for his young team.

The Flames had one final push left in their collective system, as demonstrated by an 11-2 run midway through the final quarter, which cut the lead to 11 with three minutes to go. Johnson was not too happy with the defensive effort in the fourth quarter, in which EMHS outscored his squad by six.

“To end a game like we did defensively, kind of giving up a lot of easy baskets at the end, not focusing on the task at hand — which is to finish this game well — is something that we talked a great deal about after the game,” Johnson said at the conclusion of the contest. “One of our focuses is to finish well, whether it’s a possession or a game, we need to get better. I’m not downing the guys because, hey, a win in the postseason is a win in the postseason, but we want to get better each day. So our focus tomorrow is going to be to learn how to finish well and to get better so that we can prepare for North Cross on Thursday.”

Agee led the Eagles with 19 points, 10 assists and four steals. Jeremiah Morris scored 14 of his 16 points by halftime, and L.J. Morris finished with 15. Another junior, guard Hernon Henderson, scored all 11 of his points in the second half. Center David Rogers led Covenant with seven rebounds. On the night, the Eagles shot better from beyond the arc (9 for 15) than from in close (18 for 35).

Daniel paced the Flames with a game-high 21 points, while White added 18 in the losing effort.

North Cross won the other regular-season meeting against Covenant back on Jan. 10 by just three points in Roanoke. Johnson and the Eagles feel that the Raiders are certainly beatable, and that a win would definitely help their chances to continue on to the VISAA state tournament next week.

“If we don’t get better defensively, then Thursday’s going to be our last game of the season,” Johnson said was the message that he gave his team. “None of the guys want that, so I’m sure we’ll get after it in practice tomorrow.”

Girls basketball

COVENANT 48, STEWARD 13

The Covenant girls sent their lone senior out on a high note in the regular-season finale on Tuesday, as Taylor Peed led the Eagles to a 35-point drubbing of the visiting Spartans. Peed finished with a team-high 11 points and nine rebounds in her final regular-season home game after five years in the program.

“Taylor has been such a big part of our program the last five years, and she’s been the kind of player that, as a coach, you know what you’re going to get every single day, which is great,” said TCS coach Doug Smethurst. “She’s real consistent, she’s tough, she really has a desire to do well and to be a great teammate, so we’re going to miss her a lot. She’s had a great career here.”

Juniors Margot Leibl and McKinley Clore each scored 10 for the Eagles (13-8), who will likely host a first-round contest next Tuesday in the first round of the 12-team VISAA Division II state tournament. The final pairings will be revealed on Sunday.

Smethurst is proud of his young squad for exceeding expectations and coming together nicely down the stretch in his first season back on the sidelines as head coach.

“It’s been a learning experience,” Smethurst said of the journey. “The girls have been great, they’ve really worked hard and I’m real proud of them, we’ve come a long way. To think about what we were working on in November and to see how much we’ve progressed these last few months – it’s a long season, it’s a tough season, and I can’t say enough about how well the girls have done, every single one of them.”