STEENS — Rokila Wallace thought she could fit through the sliver of space.
It’s a good thing the Columbus High School sophomore found a way to work past two East Webster defenders because the Lady Falcons didn’t have much time left in regulation to try another route.
Wallace’s layup with 1.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter pushed the game into overtime and set the stage for her jump shot that proved to be all Columbus needed to escape with a 54-50 overtime victory against East Webster on Saturday in the Immanuel Christian School tournament.
“I had to go to the basket,” said Wallace, who thought she was going to draw a foul on the drive that sent the game into overtime. “That is all I knew at the time.”
The victory capped a 2-0 weekend for Columbus (9-5), which defeated Carroll Academy 68-35 on Friday night.
A free throw by Wallace gave Columbus a 48-47 lead with 53.5 seconds to go. The teams then exchanged turnovers before Quantesha Patterson (game-high 30 points) scored on a drive from the left win to give East Webster a 49-48 lead. Columbus missed two shots that could have given it the lead, including one by Jasmine Johnson following her steal. Still, Columbus had life
after Kentrina McCurray hit 1 of 2 free throws with 5.4 seconds. In the timeout, Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston instructed her players to roll the ball out to Wallace, who fielded the ball and split two defenders just past midcourt and moved quickly into the lane to lay the ball in. The scoreboard indicated the basket gave Columbus a 50-49 win, but the score was changed to add in McCurray’s free throw to send the game into a three-minute extra session.
Columbus wasted little time taking the lead, as Wallace drained a jump shot to give her 19 points on the day. Neither team scored again until Johnson’s layup at the buzzer. Columbus held the ball the final 1 minute, 25 seconds after East Webster missed two free throws and then didn’t foul to put the Lady Falcons on the line.
Afterward, Hairston was upbeat despite a cold shooting afternoon.
“We won the game, and anytime you win it is a good thing,” Hairston said. “I saw some good things out there. He called a timeout (in the final six seconds) and we told them to roll the ball and they did what we told them to do. It just so happened it worked out the way we drew it up, so we had a chance to go to overtime.”
Wallace opened the season in the starting lineup, but Hairston has found a better fit for Wallace off the bench. She feels watching the game unfold for several minutes gives Wallace a chance to work her way into the action and to see how things are unfolding.
Wallace said coming off the bench hasn’t been a big adjustment because Hairston stresses to her players that they know what they’re doing and that they can execute the sets the team works on in practice. Entering the second part of the season, Wallace feels good about the role she is playing on the team.
“I feel very confident in myself because I know I have a coach who is going to help me do what I have to do, and she is going to push me to make sure it gets done,” Wallace said.
Against East Webster, Columbus needed Wallace to shoot from the perimeter. The sophomore obliged by knocking down wing jump shots with just another consistency to prevent East Webster from pulling away. Columbus led only once, 4-2, in regulation and had to battle back from a nine-point deficit in the first quarter and a seven-point hole in the fourth quarter. East Webster denied Columbus driving lanes with a 1-2-2 zone that often trapped on the wings and caused the Lady Falcons to settle for jump shots. The defense nearly helped the Class 2A school pull the upset because Columbus, a Class 6A school, struggled on a cold shooting afternoon. Senior guard Bri Edinburgh (10 points) was the only other Columbus player in double figures.
“She is really stepping up,” Hairston said. “She was in the starting lineup early in the year, but she was just so nervous, so we had to take her out. It seems like she plays better off the bench. It gives us a spark.”
Hairston said she and her coaches kept talking to Wallace and encouraging her. She said there is a lot more teaching going on this season with a young team and inexperienced players who Hairston said can get a little too excited and hyper. She said the trick is understanding the fundamentals and having the Lady Falcons and play within themselves and work together.
If that happens, Hairston likes the future for this team, especially with a player like Wallace, who isn’t “bashful,” according to Hairston, but is willing to take big shots with the game on the line.
“She doesn’t get her head down,” Hairston said. “She battles back on defense. That is what I like about her. She missed a corner shot, but she was wide open and she should have taken the shot. She just went back and got back on defense. She doesn’t drop her head often. She is going to get out and play as hard as she can. That is what I like about this group, they are going to play as hard as they can all of the time.”
Wallace smiled when asked about her role on this year’s team. She said she would prefer to get assists over points, but she admitted she will shoot the ball on days like Saturday if it will help the team.
“I always tell my team it is going to fall, just keep trying and keep your head up, like coach tells me every day in practice,” Wallace said. “When you get into the game, you have to do what you are supposed to do.”
Even though she is only a sophomore, Wallace knew on this day she had to keep shooting. She didn’t hit every jump shot, but she hit enough of them to put herself in position to hit a game-tying shot in the waning seconds.
“That was a tough team, and we did what we had to do,” Wallace said. “I think we did great.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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