The Decisive Blow

Nash Central’s Kayalin Mitchell, left, Rocky Mount High’s Mya Pittman, and Ashley Hatfield, center, and Nash Central’s Carisha Leonard, right, leap up for the ball Saturday. Below, Michelle Gainey and Anna Shaye Thompson battle for possession.
©TELEGRAM PHOTOS / SARAH LOUYA

Rocky Mount High’s Michelle Gainey, left, and Nash Central’s Anna Shaye Thompson fight for the rebound Saturday at Rocky Mount High School during the third round of the NCHSAA playoffs.
©TELEGRAM PHOTO / SARAH LOUYA

Rocky Mount High’s Ashley Hatfield, left, and Nash Central’s Carisha Leonard leap up for the ball Saturday at Rocky Mount High School during the third round of the NCHSAA playoffs.
©TELEGRAM PHOTO / SARAH LOUYA

Nash Central’s Kayalin Mitchell, left, and Rocky Mount High’s Shelby Meeks battle for the ball Saturday at Rocky Mount High School during the third round of the NCHSAA playoffs.
©TELEGRAM PHOTO / SARAH LOUYA

It was always about defense for the Rocky Mount High girls’ basketball team.

The Gryphons figured out what worked, stuck with it, and excelled at defending Nash Central’s trio of talented guards in Saturday’s third round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.

The fifth-seeded Gryphons cruised to a 56-39 win over the No. 11 Bulldogs, largely by throwing a wrench into the familiarity between the two teams that blossomed over the course of the first four meetings this season which they split.

RMH right away went to a man-to-man defense that stifled shooters by taking away personal space. In the past, the Gryphons would play in their more comfortable zone and switch in and out of various looks. There was no need to bother with much else as the assignment defense worked.

“We played straight-up defense tonight,” Gryphons forward Keyanna Spivey said. “We played hard and got into them. We knew we would have to knuckle down and play serious defense against them to win, and that’s what we did.”

The Bulldogs thrive on perimeter shooting, which creates open lanes for guards Michaela Nelms, Kayalin Mitchell and Myia Spivey to drive once the defense is stretched. The Gryphons, however, defended out by the 3-point arc and took away those long looks. Nash Central couldn’t create any sustained offense as a result. The Bulldogs scored 12 points in the second half, and didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter.

“We got after their guards at halfcourt,” RMH coach Pam Gainey said. “We had a couple lapses where (Mitchell) got away and hit some 3s. They killed us by doing that last game (Big East tournament final) when they were free by the arc.”

Mitchell made a pair of 3s and scored 10 of her 14 points in Nash Central’s 20-point second quarter. That strong quarter helped the Bulldogs draw within 33-27 at halftime before the offense dried up.

Nelms, the Bulldogs point guard who finished with a team-high 16 points, became limited when she picked up her fourth foul with 3:25 to play in the third quarter. That offensive charge call effectively ended coach Terri Cash’s plan of having her guard Keyanna Spivey.

Spivey was a wrecking ball in the paint where she scored a game-high 25 points with 10 rebounds, and often drew multiple defenders. The Gryphons took advantage of this and shortened her range that she could roam. Spivey was more stationary on the low block than before. In previous games with the Bulldogs, Spivey would pop out to the 3-point arc and call for the ball, or play in the high post during some halfcourt sets this season.

On Saturday, however, the senior stayed near the basket where she commanded a lot of attention. And with a few defenders keeping track of Spivey, the ball could move around the court more freely.

Michelle Gainey enjoyed the space and scored 15 points. With Spivey being tended to by the Bulldogs in rebound situations, Ashley Hatfield would swoop in to clean the glass 12 times. Shelby Meeks, the Gryphons’ perimeter threat, had an off night shooting 2 of 9, but both makes were 3s.

It was the game that the Gryphons had been waiting for.

“We finally got that game where we played with intensity you need in the playoffs,” said Spivey, referring to a pair of blowout wins in the first two rounds. “We’re trying to win the whole dang thing. It’s the playoffs and we’re looking to keep going all the way to the end.”

What awaits figures to be the Gryphons’ toughest test in top-seeded Northern Guilford, a 65-21 winner over No. 7 Topsail.

By PATRICK MASON
Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Saturday, February 25, 2017