The L.C. Bird girls basketball players walked off the floor at halftime of their game at Monacan with their heads down.
The Skyhawks' seven-point lead after one quarter had turned into a two-point deficit at the midpoint of the Dominion District clash with the Chiefs, ranked No. 3 in The Times-Dispatch Top 10.
"We knew what we had to do to win," L.C. Bird senior point guard Porscha Walton said. "Everybody focused in and got their heads together. We came out, and it was time to go to work."
The fourth-ranked Skyhawks, sparked by Kelsey Cruz and Taja Cole, scored the first nine points of the third quarter, grabbed the lead and never relinquished it for a 73-61 victory.
The loss was the first in the district for the Chiefs (18-3,14-1), but they will win the regular-season crown and a No. 1 seed in the Central Region tournament with a victory over Midlothian next week. The Skyhawks (19-2, 13-2) have a district game left with Clover Hill, and still have a chance to tie for first, but second place seems a lock. The Dominion's other Top 10 team, No. 5 Cosby, has three district losses.
"This is a tough district to go undefeated. We really don't care about that. We're trying to line ourselves up to try and close the district Tuesday night," Monacan coach Larry Starr said. "We win that game, we lock the district. What we're looking for is that No. 1 seed, and we'll deal with it from there."
The first time the teams met at L.C. Bird, the Chiefs used their outside scoring ability to win a racehorse game. Thursday night at Monacan, the Skyhawks pounded the ball inside to Eboni Gilliam (19 points, 14 rebounds) and Lee-Osha Hines (seven points, six rebounds). L.C. Bird, thriving on second-chance points, led 22-15 after one quarter.
The Chiefs, led by Michaela Parson (20 points) and Alexis Hite (17 points), outscored L.C. Bird 17-8 in the second and went into halftime with momentum. But the Skyhawks added sterling guard play from Walton (15 points, 5 assists) and Cole (14 points, eight rebounds, three assists) to the inside game and regained control. Walton was 11 for 11 from the foul line.
In the second half, Monacan settled for 3-point shots, which didn't fall. Leading scorers Gabby Harris and Raven Williams managed only 12 points between them as they dealt with bigger or faster opponents.
"We just felt like this is great competition, and we needed a good solid win against a good caliber team," Bird coach Chevette Waller said. "In our two losses, we got down and fell apart. Tonight, I saw us unite and come back."
L.C. BIRD (19-2, 13-2) – Cruz 9, Mckensie 0, Walton 15, Alexander 7, Gilliam 19, Cole 14, Taylor 0, Story 0, Hines 7, Smith 2. Totals 24 23-33 73.
MONACAN (18-3, 14-1) – Parham 4, Harris 8, Parson 20, Perkins 8, Bowse 0, Williams 4, Jones 0, Hite 17. Totals 24 12-19 61.
L.C. Bird | 22 | 8 | 19 | 24 | — | 73 |
Monacan | 15 | 17 | 12 | 17 | — | 61 |
3-point goals – LCB: Cruz, Alexander. Mon: Williams.
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