The Eastern View boys basketball team rallied from a pair of halftime deficits to knock off top seeds Hanover and Courtland on its way to winning last week's Region 4B tournament.
The Cyclones found themselves in a similar situation during Wednesday night's Class 4 state semifinal matchup at Smithfield. Trailing the Region 4A champions for much of the game, they put together two second-half runs that kept the small cadre of in-person supporters for both squads on the edge of their seats.
Unfortunately for Eastern View, this time it wasn't quite enough.
Rashad Tucker scored 18 points, Troy Giles added 15 and Kelby Saunders chipped in 10 points and 12 rebounds, enabling the Packers to hold off the Cyclones for a 56-49 victory.
Smithfield (9-0) will travel to Winchester to play at Handley (11-0) in Saturday's state title game—its first in school history. The Judges topped homestanding Halifax County in a 52-49 overtime thriller in Wednesday's other semifinal clash.
Eastern View, which was playing in the state semis for the first time in program history, concludes its banner season at 13-3.
"We knew [Eastern View] would come at us with everything they had until the final buzzer," Packers head coach Theotis Porter said. "But I told the guys if we won the rebounding war and limited our turnovers we'd put ourselves in a position to be successful."
Smithfield accomplished the former and did just enough of the latter to keep the visitors at bay.
Despite not having a player taller than 6-foot-2 in their starting lineup, the Packers outrebounded the Cyclones 41-38. Saunders got plenty of help in that department from Corey Moye and Tucker, who contributed 13 and seven boards, respectively.
While the hosts finished the night with 17 turnovers, they committed just seven of those after intermission.
"We had a little bit too many [turnovers] for my liking, but we did a good job of protecting the basketball when it mattered the most," Porter said.
Smithfield needed its ball security in the contest's waning minutes. After extending their lead to 49-42 on a layup by Tucker with six minutes to play, the Packers watched as Eastern View churned out a 7-2 spurt that cut matters to 51-49 with 1:43 left. D'Aze Hunter tallied five of his 13 points during that time frame.
The Cyclones just couldn't get over the hump though. They turned the ball over three times in the final 90 seconds, which was more than enough to give the Packers poor fourth-quarter free-throw shooting (5 of 11) a pass.
"I felt like we never really matched [Smithfield's] energy level," said Eastern View assistant coach Jerome Pollard, who was filling in for head coach Patrick Thornhill following the passing of Thornhill's mother Wednesday morning. "We played their game for most of the night; we let them crash the boards and get too many easy baskets by not getting back on defense."
Despite Thornhill's absence, the Cyclones started fast, taking an 11-4 advantage and holding a 15-14 edge after the opening period. Hunter netted five points in the stanza, while 6-foot-5 forward Corey Long totaled four.
Smithfield took things over by halftime, thanks to seven points from Tucker and six from Saunders in the second quarter—many of which came in transition. The result was a 32-26 lead at the break.
"We did what we do best, which is play defense, crash the boards and run," Tucker remarked. "We feel like we're too athletic for most teams to contain us."
Eastern View's first rally came midway through the third frame. Down 39-31, Gio Maxie and Rickey Butler connected on back-to-back 3-pointers. Long's layup on the next possession tied the score at 39 apiece, and Hunter added a free throw to give the Cyclones their first advantage since the middle of the second period, 40-39, with two minutes left in the quarter.
As they did all evening, the Packers had an answer though. Baskets by Tucker, Giles and Tristan Baker restored their edge to 45-40 entering the final stanza.
"We just couldn't finish," said Long, who led Eastern View with 18 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots. "[Smithfield] stayed on us all game, and they deserved to win."
Eastern View (13-3): Amaree Robinson 2, Rickey Butler 5, Gio Maxie 5, D'Aze Hunter 13, Corey Long 18, D'Myo Hunter 0, Taharka Siaca Bey 6. Totals: 19 8-14 49.
Smithfield (9-0): Troy Giles 15, Tristan Baker 8, Corey Moye 4, Rashad Tucker 18, Kelby Saunders 10, Markese Custis 1, Sekou Frye 0, Che' Mullins 0. Totals: 21 13-22 56.
3-pointers: Eastern View 3 (Butler, Maxie, D'Aze Hunter). Smithfield 1 (Tucker).
