Lady Patriots Claim VISBA Title

Published 3:44 pm Thursday, March 7, 2013

Former Farmville Herald staff writer Frank Shanaberger piloted his Amelia Academy girls basketball team to the Virginia Independent Schools Basketball Association Division III State Championship last Saturday with a 67-36 victory over tournament semifinal and championship game host Wakefield School in The Plains.

Shanaberger's team completed the 2012-13 season with a 27-6 record and captured both the Virginia Commonwealth Conference's regular-season and tournament championships (18-0 against VCC competition) en route to the VISBA title.

The goal of winning this year's title was born out of a loss to Williamsburg Christian in last year's State Championship game.

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“For the players that returned from that team, this has been our goal for an entire year,” said Shanaberger. “We wanted to not only get back to the championship game, but win it. Unfortunately, we didn't know until the start of the season that Williamsburg Christian was going to play up to Division II, which basically took us from the role of being the top challenger to being the favorite.

“That changed things a little bit. I set the schedule up with some very tough games so we could get ready. Along the way, we had to also be sure that we didn't lose focus, and not slip up in the VCC.

“Right now, I'm kind of more relieved, than anything.”

Saying you're going to work in the offseason to achieve a goal, is one thing. Actually putting in the work is another.

There is a saying that championships are won when nobody is looking. In July and August, basketball is not on the minds of most in Southside Virginia. It was, however, on the minds of his players.

“There is no air conditioning in our gym,” said Shanaberger. “That didn't stop the girls from coming out and working very hard on 90 degree days in a hot gym that's well over 100 degrees.

“They worked very hard throughout the summer, in camps, into the fall and from the first practice on. We worked on getting better every day and every game. We were able to carry that out throughout the season, even when some of our players had to miss a game here and there, and especially after Tamara [Novic] got hurt in the VCC Tournament. Whenever one girl couldn't go, another would step in and pick up where they left off.

Against Wakefield School, Amelia Academy opened up a 19-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, and went ahead 33-18 at the intermission.

The Lady Patriots extended their lead to 52-33 at the end of the third, before cruising in the fourth quarter to the 31-point victory.

Amelia Academy was led in scoring by Moona Hamalainen, who had a game-high 23 points on the afternoon, while Kristyn Carney finished with a double-double of 15 points and ten rebounds.

Guard Megan Jacoby also turned in a double-double performance of 11 points, 14 assists and six steals.

Andrea Anicic scored eight points and pulled down ten assists, while Lexi Sollars added eight points.

The championship was the second state title in the school's history. It came just hours after AA captured the VISBA D-III Boys Championship (a 54-49 win over North Cross) at Virginia State University.

“Tim Jacoby, the boys coach, gives me a hard time about it. They were the first to win a title. The boys championship was shown over the Internet, and while we were waiting for our game, our girls were sitting in the stands and watching on their iPads and computers. Their game was a lot closer than ours, and when the boys won, our girls started cheering and yelling. They actually stopped the game to see what we were yelling about. We then knew that we were going to have to take care of business on our end.

“It's exciting to have both teams win on the same day. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it at the same site, but for us, it was special that we were able to beat Wakefield on their home court.”

– When not teaching and coaching state championship basketball teams at Amelia Academy, Shanaberger is the play-by-play announcer for High School Football and Dixie Youth Baseball on Farmville radio station WVHL 92.9 FM.