On Wednesday evening, the #6 Hargrave Tigers saw their season end at the hands of the #3 Norfolk Collegiate Mighty Oaks, 76-74, in the VISAA Division 2 State Tournament Elite Eight. The Tigers end their season at 22-7.
After defeating Seton School (72-65) on Tuesday evening, Hargrave advanced to their fourth consecutive VISAA Division 2 State Tournament Elite Eight, where they would face off against an extremely talented and well coached Norfolk Collegiate team, who boasted a 25-3 record going into last night’s contest. “It’s never easy playing a back to back,” said Head Coach, Ben Veshi. “We’ve played plenty of back to backs throughout the year but this late in the season I know tired legs become a factor.”
Both teams came out a little tense, with neither team scoring on their first few possessions. However, a Brehon Lambert ’20 lay-up opened up the scoring and from that point on, both teams were off to the races. “It was a pretty cool moment, seeing Brehon (Chesapeake, VA) open up the scoring with his family and friends in attendance,” Veshi remarked. The first quarter was a high paced affair and Norfolk Collegiate held a slight 19-17 lead.
The second quarter was much of the same with both teams trading baskets in what turned into as much a track meet as it was a basketball game. At halftime, despite a strong showing from Zion Russell ’21 (9 points, 3 rebounds) and IJ Ezuma ’21 (8 points, 10 rebounds), Hargrave found themselves trailing 35-30.
“It was a really quick half without many stoppages in play,” said Veshi. “We spoke a lot at halftime about taking care of the ball and getting stops. Since we like to play a fast paced game, the up and down nature of the first half played to our advantage in some regards, we just had to tighten a few things up.”
After a sequence that involved a drive and kick from Russell to Lambert to a one-more pass to Nathan Kania ’20 for a three, then a defensive rebound which lead to a fast break that ended in Blake hitting Ezuma for the basket and the foul, the Tigers had drawn to within two points at 43-41. From that point, Norfolk Collegiate utilized a 13-2 run to expand their advantage to 13 points in a barrage of fast break lay-ups and open three pointers. The Tigers put together a mini-run of their own, as they got the game down to single digits heading into the fourth, trailing 63-54.
Hargrave opened up the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run that was capped off by a Reggie Walton, Jr. ’20 deflection, leading to a Blake steal which led to a lay-up and the foul. The Tigers struggled from the free throw line all night (5-12) and ended up missing the game tying free throw. Both teams traded baskets and free throws throughout the last five minutes of the game but the Tigers furious comeback fell just short as their season ended in defeat, 76-74.
Notable Performances Included:
Mazae Blake ’20–23 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Zion Russell ’21–18 points, 4 rebounds
IJ Ezuma ’21–14 points, 19 rebounds, 3 blocks
Brehon Lambert ’20–10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals
Nathan Kania ’20–7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Reggie Walton, Jr. ’20–2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
“This one was really tough,” remarked Veshi. “We treated this game like it was a championship game, trip to the Final Four on the line, and the message before the game was simple-just compete. We did, with flying colors. That’s been our MO all season–play hard, play smart, and play for each other. This group represented themselves extremely well, tonight and over the course of the last four months. It definitely hurts a little more in a one possession game; the margin for error is so slim in the playoffs. I tip my cap to Norfolk Collegiate, they were the better team tonight. But tonight’s result doesn’t define our season. We had some incredible team and individual performances and our guys walked out of the locker room with their heads held high, it was a heck of a year for the Tigers!”
