With 5:44 left in Friday’s TCIS girls semifinal against top-seeded Norfolk Collegiate, fourth-seeded Norfolk Christian was in position to score one of the great upsets in TCIS tournament history.
The Ambassadors, who had trailed by 19 points at the half, were down by 45-44 and had placed the ball was in the very capable hands of their sensational eighth-grade point guard, Galaisha Goodhope.
Norfolk Christian attempted to hold the ball, but with 3:50 remaining, the Oaks came out of a zone to press the issue.
Norfolk Collegiate then scored nine of the last 12 points to post a 54-47 win and earn a berth in Saturday’s 4 p.m. final against second-seeded Walsingham, which beat Norfolk Academy 71-45 in the other semifinal.
“I wanted to wait longer to go after them, but they had the momentum,” said Norfolk Collegiate coach Suzanne Midkiff, whose team went unbeaten in regular-season conference play. “They had us playing their game. We had to force something.”
And they did. The suddenly aggressive Oaks forced a turnover, then got a basket from Markell Smith (16 points) on the follow of a missed She’la White shot.
Goodhope lost the ball on the ensuing inbounds play and White came back with a driving layup and was fouled. She made the free throw for a 50-44 lead, then promptly followed that with a length-of-the court pass to Smith for another bucket following a missed Norfolk Christian shot.
After a steal by Andra Paphites and two White free throws the upset bid was over.
“I’m speechless,” said Norfolk Christian coach Kayson Stoner. “My girls fought with the heart of a lion.
“At halftime I told them to stop being scared. That we had to go out and win the third quarter, then push them to the wire.”
Goodhope did most of the pushing, scoring 11 of her game-high 25 points in the third quarter when Norfolk Christian outscored the Oaks 24-10.
“Galaisha really stepped up,” said Stover. “She grew three years in age in the second half.”
The Norfolk Collegiate players said it wasn’t all Goodhope.
“We lost our focus in the third quarter after getting that big lead,” admitted Paphites. “We thought it was going to be an easy win. Then they got really aggressive.
“But we came back. Everybody played good defense at the end.”
Paphites was among those tasked with trying to stop Goodhope, who missed four of her last six shots.
“We know what she likes to do,” Paphites said. “I just tried to stay low and keep my eye on her bellybutton. She’s going to be a great player. There’s going to be a lot of colleges after her.”
Some might say Goodhope could even be the next She’la White. Despite yielding four years of experience to the North Carolina-bound Norfolk Collegiate star, Goodhope clearly had White off her game in much of the second half with her non-stop harassment on defense and terrific ballhandling ability.
White finished with 21 points, but had only nine after the first quarter.
Walsingham (23-1) jumped on Norfolk Academy early and was never threatened. Caroline Wilke scored 29 points and Kelly Korkowski 24 for the Trojans.
Lindsey Shall led Norfolk Academy with 25 points.
Norfolk Collegiate 54, Norfolk Christian 47
NORFOLK CHRISTIAN (14-8): Goodhope 25, M. Brown 6, Webb 5, S. Brown 2, Sauls 3, Shoaf 6. Totals 15 8-9 47.
NORFOLK COLLEGIATE (24-1): White 21, Smith 16, Weaver 4, Byrd 7, Peterson 5. Totals: 19 7-12 54.
Halftime: Norfolk Collegiate 35-16. 3-point goals: White 3, Goodhope 2, Webb.
Walsingham 71, Norfolk Academy 45
NORFOLK ACADEMY: Claffy 1, Shall 25, Morris 8, McCrory 3, Beasley 4, Gorsline 4. Totals: 15 12-23 45.
WALSINGHAM: Davenport 2, Horne 2, Korkowski 24, Leatigaga 3, Murphy 2, Wilke 29. Totals: 25 18-23 71.
Halftime: Walsingham 33-24. 3-point goals: McCrory, Walker.
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