Lady Knights march to semis

Published 9:52 pm Monday, February 13, 2017

The Buckingham County High School varsity girls basketball team extended its successful season another game Monday night.

Led by stellar guard play, the fourth-seeded Lady Knights defeated visiting No. 5 Dan River High School 53-42 in the Courthouse Conference 37 tournament quarterfinals.

The Lady Knights (13-7) now advance to face host No. 1 Gretna High School on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.

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After the first quarter Monday, Buckingham and the Lady Wildcats were locked in a 7-7 tie. The Lady Knights charged ahead 22-11 at halftime and led 38-28 after three quarters.

“I felt today that we came out and controlled the game — controlled the offense, controlled the defense — and we executed tonight,” Buckingham Head Coach Kelly Chambers said. “Our shots were falling, our fast breaks were there, and defensively, we were able to hold them. (We) had to switch up a little bit — some man and some zone — but we were able to hold them.”

Sophomore guard Jayda Chambers and freshman guard LaDeTra Swann led the Lady Knights with 16 points apiece, while sophomore guard Shamari Wingfield added 15 points.

“I felt like we started off slow, but then we got there after halftime,” Jayda Chambers said. “And personally, I started off slow, but then we picked it up. I tried to get my teammates involved.”

Swann added, “I felt we had to bring the good intensity to get through this whole game. We had to work as a team together.”

Coach Chambers agreed that it was a good team win.

“I think, offensively, we moved the ball, and we were able to put it in our guards’ hands, who got some shots off the perimeter,” the coach said. And though Buckingham did not get many contributions from its post players, “we were able to find them some down low, as well.”

The coach has some idea of what to expect when her team takes on the top-seeded Lady Hawks on Wednesday.

“I have watched one of their games, and they’re an aggressive team that plays all four quarters,” Coach Chambers said. “They are scrappy, and they also control the offense by putting the pressure on us and then getting those fast breaks off of that. So, in order to run with them, we have to be able to control the ball, and my guards need to handle the ball.”