By Richard Carrier, Contributing Writer
richwrites@netzero.net

Powhatan High School’s girls basketball squad shook off the bad feelings caused by their collapse while hosting Brunswick High last week and made a positive statement with an impressive win over Bluestone last Monday evening. The Lady Indians demolished the Lady Barons 53-31 in the quarter-finals of the Southside District Tournament, just three days after suffering through “the only game (in her 20 years as coach at PHS) where I was sick the next day,” said Head Coach Paulette Bowman.

The Lady Indians galloped out to a 15-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Berry supplied eight of those points- scoring on drives, from three point range and at the free throw line. Jesse Harris, Hannah Akersveen Davis and Livermon filled out the scoring.

Maitlin Ware’s rebounding set the tone for the second quarter as she scored five of Powhatan’s first seven points at the beginning of the second quarter. Berry found a new way to score when she put back Ware’s miss at 24-8. Bluestone gathered themselves and made a mini-run which closed the gap to 24-15. Berry’s long jumper ended that sequence. Her offensive rebound and put-back closed the first half with Powhatan leading 28-16. Berry scored 13 first half points.

Brooke Shifflette opened the third quarter with a shot-block on the defensive end, followed by a put-back on a rare miss Berry. Akersveen Davis added two free throws before Bluestone scored the next five points, including a three by Jena DeSantis. Powhatan stretched the lead to 36-22 on Berry’s runner and Davis’s lay-up on an assist from Camryn Smith. Angilique Sturdifen’s drive got two back for the Lady Barons, before Smith, up from the junior varsity for the Tournament, followed a Livermon miss; Berry closed out the third stanza with a free throw for a 39-24 Powhatan edge.

Berry opened the final period with a made foul shot and Smith scored her sixth point on yet another follow. Shifflett’s assist to Akersveen Davis added two more points and a free throw. Smith pulled down another offensive rebound and was fouled, but failed to convert. Somewhere in that sequence, a technical foul was called on the Lady Barons and Livermon sank both shots, earning the Lady Indians a 46-24 lead. Powhatan’s defense held Bluestone scoreless until the Lady Barons managed two free throws at 46-26. Foul shots by Livermon and Berry stretched the lead to 23 before Dominique Osborne powered up for two points. Livermon made one free throw and Berry converted on an assist from Smith and drew the foul. She made the free throw to put Powhatan up 53-28. Coach Bowman cleared her bench and Blue Stone scored the game’s final three points.