By Angela Watts
Managing Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
** Check below the story to find a video player with 12 min of highlights from Tuesday night’s game.
T.C. Williams senior Anthony Winbush stood near the top of the key with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter of the Titans’ Virginia AAA state semifinal against Petersburg at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center in Richmond.
He eyed fellow senior Travis Berry as Berry dribbled on the right wing.
Then, in an instant, Winbush saw it. The Crimson Wave defenders had vacated the left side of the lane, leaving him with a clear path to the basket. His eyes lit up, and he shot a quick, wide-eyed glance at Berry before taking off.
And it worked to perfection, with Berry providing the alley — Winbush the oop.
The dunk brought the Titan fans to their feet and proved a virtual exclamation point on what proved a 63-46 victory over the Crimson Wave. With the win, T.C. Williams (28-3) advances to face Eastern Region champion Bethel (30-1) at 8:45 p.m. Friday in the championship game.
The last Northern Region team to win a state title was Lee in 1981.
“Give them a little bit of a knockout punch and see how resilient they are,” T.C. Williams Coach Ivan Thomas said of his thought behind the designed play. “High school kids get so emphatic about dunks … and they did, they dropped their heads and [Petersburg Coach Bill Lawson] called a time out after they scored. It was a gamble that paid off.”
And the final blow couldn’t have been provided by two more fitting players. Berry (game-high 20 points, six rebounds) and Winbush (19 points, five rebounds) dominated the third quarter, combining to score 18 of the Titans’ 20 points in the pivotal period.
T.C. Williams, which trailed by seven points after the first quarter, rallied to take its first lead of the game, 16-15, with 4 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the first half when Berry drained one of his four three-pointers. Although taking the lead — and the momentum — the Titans held only a slim, 27-23 edge at half time.
But T.C. Williams went on an 8-0 run to open the third quarter — including three consecutive layups by Winbush — to push their lead to double-digits. The Crimson Wave did mount a run of its own to close the gap to 35-28 on a jump shot by junior big man Cadarian Raines (nine points, 12 rebounds) with 4:15 left in the third. But Berry responded with back-to-back three pointers to push T.C. Williams’ lead back to 13.
The Titans maintained that double-digit lead the rest of the game.
“I didn’t expect anything less from Travis when he came [in] and hit big shots,” Thomas said. “Travis has been taking big shots all season for us. And, he has that Reggie Miller-syndrome — [always thinking that] the next one is going in. And if the last one missed, something’s wrong with the ball. That’s just his mentality.
“Winbush is the brains of our team. Edward Jenkins is the heart of our team. And Travis Berry is the confidence of our team. He’s never lacking in it.”
T.C. Williams will need all of that — brains, heart and confidence — and more if it is to defeat Bethel Friday night and claim the Titans’ first Virginia AAA title since 1977.
“It would mean a lot for us to bring a title back home,” Berry said. “We haven’t won a title in almost 30 years, and for us to bring it home would be a big thing, especially in my senior year.”
But a victory — and an end to the 26-year Northern Region state championship title drought — certainly won’t be an easy task against the one-loss Bruins, who boast seven players over 6-feet-4-inches tall on their 15-man roster.
“The celebration … it was surreal,” Thomas said of the Titans’ post-game locker room scene after advancing to the finale. “I think it kind of hit ’em.
“But they understand they’ve got a monster in front of them. So they’ve still got work to do.”
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
No. 1 T.C. Williams 6 21 20 16 — 63
Petersburg 13 10 11 12 — 46
T.C. Williams — Campbell 0 5-8 5; Winbush 8 3-4 19; Jenkins 3 0-2 6; Yates 1 0-0 2; Camara 1 1-1 3; Berry 8 0-0 20; Peterson 2 2-2 6; Jordan 1 0-0 2. Team totals: 24 11-17 63. Petersburg — Moore 1 1-4 3; Scott 4 1-1 10; Rassoull 3 4-5 10; Taylor 1 0-0 2; Raines 3 3-4 9; Rhodes 4 3-8 12. Team totals: 16 12-22 46. Three-pointers — T.C. Williams 4 (Berry 4); Petersburg 2 (Rhodes, Scott).
Processing your request, Please wait....
