Beal lifts Monarchs in top-five showdown

HAMPTON — No. 2 Menchville went on an 11-point run to start the second half, breaking open a close game on the way to a 55-43 win over No. 5 Hampton on Tuesday in a game between Peninsula District favorites.

The star of the run was senior Kiara Beal, playing in her first important game since she made the All-Tidewater team in 2020 as a freshman. Beal, who averaged almost 17 points that season, was sidelined in 2020-21 by the COVID-19-induced cancellation of the season and missed virtually all of last season with an injury.

But after Menchville led just 26-25 at intermission, thanks to Ayame Colson’s steal and basket just ahead of the halftime buzzer, Beal had a hand in the first nine points of the second-half run. She started the third quarter with a nice entry pass to Keylee Harrison (12 points) for a basket.

Beal, who scored a team-high 13 points, followed by making a 3-pointer, assisting Harrison on another basket, then draining a pull-up jumper after stealing the ball. Harrison finished the run with a basket via a Colson pass, and the Monarchs (3-0) led 37-25.

“We’ve been trying to work her way back in, and in the second half she played really big for us,” Menchville coach Adrian Webb said. “Even early on she hit some big buckets, but in the second half you could really see her playmaking ability.”

Hampton (1-1) played the Monarchs evenly in the first half behind 10 points each from Kennedy Harris (20 points overall) and Aysa Johnson (12 points).

But the deeper Monarchs — who got 10 points each from Colson and All-Tidewater Player of the Year Amari Smith — took control after the break in a battle of recent state champions. Hampton won a share of the Class 4 state title in 2020 before Menchville grabbed the Class 5 state crown last season.