Crabbers advance to their first state final in 12 years
Taft, Baugh step up, help oust two-time defending champions
NEWPORT NEWS — Abraham Taft earned redemption almost instantaneously and, largely because he did, Hampton High will play for a boys basketball state championship for the first time in 12 years.
At the moment Taft was stripped of the ball by Varina’s Kaleb Wyche, little more than a minute remained in the Class 4 state semifinal and the Crabbers had seen their second-half lead of 14 points reduced to two. To all in the packed gymnasium at Heritage High, it appeared Wyche was on his way to tie the game.
But Taft turned sprinter and, as Wyche laid the ball up toward the basket, he blocked it off of the backboard. There was still some drama remaining in the final minute, but Hampton would remain in front in winning 51-49.
“That was the play of the game,” Hampton coach Eric Brown said of the block that preserved the edge at 44-42. “He lost the ball, chased the guy down and made a fantastic block to keep the lead.
“He’s been making those plays all year long (because) he’s that second- and third-effort guy for us.”
The other key play came moments later, when Daron Baugh, who led the Crabbers with 17 points, drove the length of the court for a layup and three-point play that made it 47-42 with 1:01 remaining. Brown said Baugh was operating on an injured thumb at that point.
Baugh almost literally had ice water in his veins in leading the Crabbers down the stretch.
“He’s been closing people out all year long,” Brown said. “Last night, he called me and said, ‘Coach, I need an ice bath.’ It definitely helped him because he has to carry the bulk of the load ball-handling for us.”
Despite the heroics of Taft and Baugh, the two-time defending state champion Blue Devils almost tied it in the final 20 seconds. Wyche made two free throws to reduce the Hampton lead to 48-46 before Dominique Coleman stole a Crabbers pass and drove in for a game-tying layup attempt.
But Coleman took a bad
angle to the basket and his shot bounced off the front of the rim. The Crabbers stretched the lead back to five points by making three of their next four free throws before the Blue Devils made a meaningless 3-pointer as time expired.
Hampton led almost the entire game after Baugh scored nine first-quarter points to give them a 13-9 lead. Troy Fullwood’s two 3-pointers helped the Crabbers increase the margin to 25-17 at halftime. The lead peaked at 41-27 on a Jamarrie Lumpkins basket late in the third quarter before Varina rallied.
“We don’t care about pretty, but I thought down the end we were poised,” said Brown, who was the interim coach in 2012, when the Crabbers last won a state title.
Hampton will play for a sixth state title in program history at 2:30 p.m. Friday against Tuscarora — which beat Loudoun Valley 65-40 in the other semifinal — at VCU’s Siegel Center.