Vanguard upsets Belleview to advance to the district tournament final

The Vanguard Knights (7-14) had four players score eight points or more to upset the Belleview Rattlers (9-13) 44-39 in the Class 5A District 5 tournament semi-final on Wednesday night.

Vanguard head coach Terrance Lewis knows there are more battles to come but was happy to see his team continuing to step up in crucial moments.

“We still have a lot to erase and when you see it you wonder why they are doing that but we still manage to squeak out wins in the end. Early in the season, the games were not going our way because of those decisions but now we have flipped the page and they are starting to execute at the right moment,” Lewis said.

The Knights got off to a white hot start on three-pointers from Jyla Gunsby, Makiya Mitchell and Kenaria Dowdy in the first five minutes of the game to give Vanguard a 12-4 lead.

Belleview would end the opening stanza on a 6-0 run, junior forward Aaliyah Grant scored all 10 of the Rattlers points in the first quarter.

A defensive tussle ensued in the second quarter as the two teams combined for 14 points. Mitchell hit her second three-pointer of the game and Aniyah Hope joined the party with a swift layup.

For Belleview, Grant hit a pair of smooth jump shots while Briyanna Miles and Aaliyah Armbrister scored on layups to tie the game at 18 going into halftime.

The third quarter was another defensive slugfest as the two teams combined for 14 points again. Kristen Moore and Jahmia Morman both scored their first points of the game for Vanguard and Norman’s layup in the final minute of the period gave the Knights a 26-24 lead.

The fourth quarter saw a faster pace of play as each team knew their season was on the line. Vanguard opened the final period on a layup from Gunsby and Armbrister would answer with a 12-foot jumper of her own to keep pace.

With just under seven minutes left in the game, Vanguard went on a 7-0 run to go up 35-26. Gunsby started the run with a tough rebound and layup, Dowdy followed up with a three-pointer from the left side and Hope finished it off with a hard-fought layup.

Armbrister answered with a three-point play, but Dowdy came up big with her second three-pointer in the span of 40 seconds to extend the lead to nine for Vanguard.

Grant and Hope locked into a battle for the next couple of possessions with Grant hitting a pair of smooth jumpers from 12 and 14 feet out. Hope used  her 6’ 0” frame to land a couple of layups on great passes from Gunsby and Diana Gegaj.

Armbrister knocked down an eight-foot jumper to pull Belleview within six. Grant and Miles followed up with four free throws to bring the deficit down to two with 90 seconds left in regulation.

Belleview had an opportunity to tie the game but Hope nabbed another rebound and sank a contested layup to put Vanguard up by four with 45 seconds left.

Following a bang-bang out-of-bounds call that was in favor of Vanguard, a technical foul allowed Mitchell to add another point on a free throw. Belleview could not get a shot off in their final possession as Gunsby came up with a steal and Vanguard ran out the final 10 seconds for the win.

For Belleview, it’s a tough way to end the season but head coach Gary Greer was pleased with the way his team fought through adversity the entire game.

“That first burst from Vanguard was tough but I told the girls to stick to our gameplan and we will be in good shape. We started getting rebounds off missed shots and slowly chipping away,” Greer said.

Greer showed optimism towards next season as three starters will be returning and hopes this loss will fuel them in the off-season.

“I remember reading about Vanguard losing a heartbreaker in the tournament last year. Coach Lewis told his girls that this would be they’re redemption year and our girls need to take that same philosophy going into next year. Remembering how it feels because it is okay to remember that feeling and build upon it,” Greer said.

Grant scored a game-high 20 points and paired it with six rebounds and three assists. Armbrister ended the night with nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Zakiya Scruggs had a big on defense with eight rebounds and five blocks.

With the win, Vanguard moves on to play Tavares on Thursday at 7 p.m. for the Class 5A District 5 tournament championship and a spot in the state playoffs.

“I told them we had to get through tonight before worrying about tomorrow. Now we can talk about tomorrow, we celebrate tonight but tomorrow’s game is everything,” Lewis said.

He added: “If we play our game and shots go in, we will be okay. I truly feel we should be able to handle our business as long as we do what we do.”

Gunsby finished with a team-high 10 points, six rebound and three steals. Dowdy added nine points, four rebounds and two steals while Mitchell and Hope scored eight points apiece.