Fabulous freshman, Tech Boston net title
It took overtime for Tech Boston to advance to the finals but the good news, as head coach Malcom Andrews pegged, it was still ‘Javonah Time.’
Javonah Coston scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half of the semifinals but saved her best for last as the freshman sensation netted 29 points, with 26 coming in the second half of the Boston City League championship, in a 66-52 victory over New Mission (13-9) at Madison Park.
Coston’s efforts included the final eight points of the third quarter along with 10 rebounds for the double-double to put the Bears (17-5) up big, 49-27. The win gives Andrews his first Boston City League title in his 10-year tenure at the helm for Tech Boston.
“Javonah put a ton of time in, she works with us, and works additional time
with workouts and training and if I’m being honest — those things shine,” said Andrews. “The thing that was exciting for me was
the shift that we made was around defense. We used the transition and (Javonah) got a lot of the layups from her teammates.”
It was touch-and-go in the first quarter as Jourdan Ferreira hit the first three of the game to put the Titans up in the first few minutes. Both teams seemed a little anxious around the rim as plenty of opportunities fell short as Tech Boston squeaked out a 10-8 lead after the first eight minutes.
Andrews dialed up the other side of the ball and the defense of Empress Nordeus, who was just as good on offense with 21 points, and Kenisha Delva created havoc around midcourt. Ferreira hit her second three-pointer inside two minutes to go to the break for New Mission but Nordeus matched it on the other end, as the Bears broke out to a double-digit lead, 29-17, with 1:34 left.
“Congratulations to Tech Boston as they earned this and worked their tails off. It’s a great program, good coach, and this was an up-and-coming thing for them and for anybody in the city — this should not be a surprise,” said New Mission head coach Brandon Wilbur. “Tough day for us, tough day shooting, we had some opportunities but I think the consistency piece is what we lacked.”
The pivotal quarter was the third with an 11-4 opening run as the Coston show was on full display. Nordeus had 13 in the first half but became the facilitator for Coston, who worked hard for every point in the paint.
“We knew this year that we had to come through and win and we may not have won all of our games but we fought to the end,” said the senior Nordeus. “We knew this was a must win. I tried my best on defense and offense and as long as we do both and work hard on both ends of the court, we are good, we came out and got it.”
Coston finished the third quarter with her own personal 8-0 run to end the third stanza. A 19-point third quarter for Coston alone put things and the championship trophy to bed for Tech Boston.
Tamia Darling, another up-and-coming freshman in the BCL, did her best with 12 of her team-high 25 points in the fourth quarter trying her best to keep the Titans in things but the game was well in hand with an all-around effort for Andrews and his squad.
“When we started this year, the vision was mine and they trusted me. Now they know what I’m going to say, they have a little coach in their head, so all I was doing was reminding them of things I’ve been saying,” added Andrews. “That’s the hope with coaching as I’m coaching myself out of a job because at some point all of these girls will be athletes some place else. So a lot of my reminding in coaching was to stick with the fundamentals, stick with the concepts, stick with the basketball IQ and that’s one thing our team has in spades.”