Hanover girls fell Deep Run in region play

One more night.

One more game to play.

One more day to spend together.

That was the motivation that carried the Hanover Hawks to a 51-41 victory over Deep Run last night in the opening round of the Central Region basketball tournament.

"I love these girls to death, and I don't want this season to end," said point guard Tiquana Hill, a 5-4 senior who played a key role in the relentless defensive effort that harried the Wildcats into 13 turnovers and 16-for-50 shooting.

"This is our first time past the first round of regionals. As the game went on, we kept our confidence, our intensity picked up, and we did what we had to do to win."

Playing on the road, the Hawks opened in a 2-2-1 zone, surrendered early 3-pointers by Emma Newins and Amy Turner, then quickly returned to their old standby, the man-to-man.

Down 24-21 at 2:40 of the second period, they outscored the Wildcats 7-1 to take a 28-25 lead into the break.

"They have really good shooters," said 5-6 senior forward Amanda Woolard. "Once we switched to man, we really shut their big players down and limited them to only one look.

"Then, we could go back and run our sets on offense."

Hanover opened the third period with two buckets from close range by Kim Browning and a layup off a Browning assist by Woolard for a 34-25 advantage and never looked back.

After Deep Run, No. 9 in The T-D Top 10, called time to regroup, Sarah Price hit a jumper from the right baseline to get the home crowd excited, but the Hawks responded with two free throws by Woolard and six straight points by Chelsea Coward to go up 42-29.

"We played man against them the first time at home [a 55-50 victory in December]," Hawks coach Kevin Brooks said. "Then we'd gone and played a lot of zone. "The kids wanted to play man tonight. They took it as a challenge and stepped up. That's what they believed in. They made a believer out of me."

The Longwood-bound Coward, a 6-0 senior center, lit up the Wildcats for 23 points (including the 1,000th of her career), 13 rebounds, six blocks, three steals and an assist, all the while remaining calm and patient despite intense defensive pressure.

"Did what I had to do," she said.

"They were doing their job, bumping me like they're supposed to. When that happened, I just tried to get it out to our shooters."

The Hawks, who outrebounded Deep Run 40-28, travel to Thomas Dale tonight for the quarterfinals.

"This [season] is the last time we'll play basketball together with these people," said Woolard.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. When it's over, I know I'll miss it."

HANOVER (18-7)

T. Woolard 0, Dillich 3, Coward 23, Hill 2, Douglas 0, Jordan 4, A. Woolard 12, Browning 8, Brace 0. Totals. 19 10-12 51
DEEP RUN (16-10)

Bowman 0, Baldaino 0, Price 9, Fleisher 5, Turner 7, Newins 15, Pandak 3, Heard 2, Gram. Totals 16 5-8 41
Hanover ------------------------- 16 12 14 9 - 51
Deep Run ------------------------- 19 6 9 7 - 41

3-point goals: HA. Wollard 2, Dillich. DR - Newins 3, Turner.