Wilson buzzing in victory
Poly senior scores 22, drills 2 half-court buzzer beaters
Poly started quickly against Pikesville on Friday night but most who saw the game will remember the way Cach’e Wilson helped the Engineers finish.
Wilson nailed half-court shots at the buzzer of both the third and fourth quarters, and the senior guard scored a game-high 22 points as No. 2 Poly defeated No. 10 Pikesville, 66-40, in a Baltimore Basketball Academy matchup at Morgan State.
Poly (12-1) took command quickly by scoring the game’s first 12 points, and Pikesville (6-2) never drew closer than five after that. The Panthers were still within shouting distance in the final moments of the third quarter, trailing by 12 before Wilson banked in a half-court shot as time ran out for a 43-28 lead.
Wilson then heated up in the fourth quarter and scored the team’s final 11 points. The last three came when she swished a 3-pointer as the clock ran out.
“I practice that shot at practice regularly,” Wilson said. “It boosts the team’s energy.”
The guard had scored just two points in the first half before coach Kendall PeaceAble talked with her at halftime and encouraged the senior to step things up in the second half. Wilson did just that and helped Poly break the game open.
“I’m proud of her,” Peace-Able said. “There’s nothing she could do to make me not proud.”
Peace-Able also was proud of her team’s start, one that gave the Engineers the 12-0 lead just over four minutes into the game. Tenea Robinson scored eight of her 15 points during that run, and Pikesville could not get on the scoreboard until Charia Roberts made a layup with 3:08 left in the quarter.
“We just talk all the time about having good starts,” Peace-Able said.
Kristin Sterling (17 points) hit a 3pointer for the Panthers that cut the margin to 14-9 early in the second quarter. But Pikesville never came that close again as Poly held a 28-16 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw more of the same as the Engineers remained in command, never letting the Panthers draw closer than eight.
Poly did a good job of keeping up a fast pace, especially in the first half. The Engineers’ transition game kept giving them fast breaks and high-percentage scoring chances. That’s also why the Panthers were forced to keep running on defense to try and catch up to Poly.
Pikesville slowly began to find its way on offense in the second and third quarters and stayed in the game until Wilson helped break things open in the final quarter. She scored 14 points in the fourth period as Poly posted 23 overall in those last eight minutes.
Da’Brya Clark also added 15 points for Poly, and the Engineers helped their cause by making 12 of 13 free throws.
Pikesville coach Michael Dukes thought that the slow start proved too much to overcome. The Panthers had beaten No. 14 Coppin Academy on Thursday in this tournament, so Dukes was a bit puzzled as to why it took his team so long to get going.
“We came out with too much nervous energy,” Dukes said. “I don’t know why. At this point in time, [Poly is] a better team than we are.”