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‘Payback.’ Princess Anne girls turn to pressure defense, rally past Norview to avenge last year’s state tournament loss

Virginian-Pilot Correspondent
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“Payback. We knew it," said Princess Anne coach Darnell Dozier, shown during a game earlier this season. "We put our hearts into it and hard work into it. And, the fact that my team is so young, we’re scary now.”

“Payback. We knew it," said Princess Anne coach Darnell Dozier, shown during a game earlier this season. "We put our hearts into it and hard work into it. And, the fact that my team is so young, we’re scary now.” (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot)

NORFOLK — The Princess Anne girls basketball team came into Friday night’s game with a bitter taste in its mouth and a chip on its shoulder.

It was 364 days earlier that Norview had ended the Cavaliers’ run of 13 straight state final appearances and eight straight titles with a victory in the VHSL Class 5 state quarterfinals.

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On Friday, the Cavaliers faced the Pilots in the quarterfinals, looking for revenge.

It took a late rally, but the Cavaliers got it with a 54-51 victory at Norfolk State’s Echols Hall.

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“Payback,” Princess Anne coach Darnell Dozier said. “We knew it. We put our hearts into it and hard work into it. And, the fact that my team is so young, we’re scary now.”

The game looked like it could be a repeat of last season as Norview led 41-31 with 6:11 left. Dozier took a timeout and decided to use a traditional weapon in the Cavaliers’ playbook — unrelenting full-court pressure.

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“I told them I don’t think they can handle the ball against our pressure,” Dozier said. “We hadn’t used it all night. Once we got a couple steals, it was on then. I knew it was going to be tight.”

The pressure started and resulted in an 18-0 run for the Cavaliers. Princess Anne was able to cut the lead to 43-42 with 3:43 left. Then, Hailey Harris hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and Princess Anne led 48-43.

Norview countered with its own pressure defense, turning the Cavaliers over and tying the game with less than 20 seconds left. Princess Anne scored the game’s final three points for the win.

Still, the key to the victory was the Cavaliers’ pressure.

“That’s defense,” Dozier said. “I preach it to them every day. I’ve preached it every year I’ve been here. If you play defense, you have a 90% chance of winning, and that’s what we did.”

Jizelle James led the Cavaliers with 17 points. Harris added 13.

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Diamond Wiggins led Norview with 20.

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