WEST POINT — As West Point High School girls basketball players walked out of the locker room for the final time this season, they were met by applause from the remaining Green Wave fans.
Players wore their emotions on their sleeves, many of them crying after starting the evening with hopes of moving on to the quarterfinals of the MHSAA Class 5A playoffs.
Hosting a strong Callaway team, the road would not be easy for West Point, and things came down to the last possession, with the Green Wave getting a golden opportunity to tie things up in the final 20 seconds of play.
A loose ball came to Terica Smith in the paint and an open lane to put up a layup, but her attempt hit backboard and then front rim as the Chargers hauled in the rebound.
Another chance to tie in the last five seconds of play, down three points, saw West Point drive into the lane instead of shooting from the perimeter as the scoreboard sounded and Callaway (25-6) emerged victorious in a 53-50 final.
“I told them coming into this game that it wouldn’t be about who made the most shots,” West Point head coach Montez “Tez” Calvert said. “It would be about all of those small things: who gets the rebound, who’s getting those timely stops. It was all about those timely stops, those timely possessions.”
Playing in front of the home faithful, West Point got off to a rough start, trailing 15-8 after the first quarter and unable to find a rhythm or consistency on the floor.
Callaway came out swinging and threw some gut punches early that proved to make the biggest difference late, but the Green Wave threw punches of their own, keeping the game within five points and taking the lead late in the second and third quarters.
The Chargers may have come out strong, but West Point stood its ground and as it built up momentum, the crowd got involved and got rowdy.
“We were able to keep the offense in sync and pick up everybody on defense,” West Point’s Tyquashia McMillian said.
The offense was high flying and shots were falling, with four of the Green Wave’s five 3-pointers in the game coming in the third quarter.
Despite those runs, Callaway went on runs of their own and either found themselves up or just barely trailing, keeping the pressure on and putting even more pressure on West Point to produce at home.
The backbreaker came as the Chargers held a slim lead with around three minutes left as they looked to waste as much time as possible off the clock while still keeping possession.
West Point had some mental lapses during that, one leading to a technical foul, as Callaway was able to play mind games and frustrate the Wave.
“You just never knew what to expect,” Smith said. “We had coaches to prepare us for what could have happened, but they had a lot of stuff in the bag, so we just had to go with the flow.”
Smith led West Point in the loss with 15 points, controlling the lane well and seemingly overpowering the Chargers’ frontcourt as the game wore on.
It was a hard-fought battle until the end that came down to the final few possessions, with Callaway pulling out a victory that will send the Chargers to the quarters.
West Point’s season may have ended Friday night, but coming off a district tournament title and a great regular season, the pieces are already in place for next year.
“I said in the locker room to all of those girls returning, it’s called work,” Calvert said. “That’s all we’re going to do. We’re going to keep working. We’re going to give them a few days off, and then we’re back in the lab.
“I told them that feeling that you have right now, it should burn. Now, they know where the destination is and what they need to do to get back to that point.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 28 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
