... ...Seldom has a team gone through as much adversity over a four-year stretch as the Berry women.
Even rarer has a team been able to overcome it in such miraculous style.
The No. 20 Lady Vikings scripted another rousing chapter to their saga Saturday when they used a stunning 13-0 game-ending run to beat No. 16 Brewton-Parker 56-48 and win the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament at Ford Gym.
“You always daydream about winning championships,” said Berry first-year coach Jonathan Norton, “but you can never really imagine how great it feels until it happens. And winning a title on our floor is just an awesome way for our seniors to go out.”
Berry senior Deana Duncan scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to cement her tournament MVP-winning run. Lauren Phillips added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Mallory Ranfos had 12 points.
The Lady Vikings (23-8) will soon begin focusing on the NAIA national tournament, which begins March 15 in Jacks
Berry’s Christy Manning cuts off a piece of the net following the Lady Vikes’ championship win. William T. Martin, Rome News-Tribune. |
on, Tenn. The pairings for the tournament will be announced this Wednesday.
But for the time being, the celebration is on at Berry, after the Lady Vikings won their first tourney title since 1994.
“This is just awesome and unbelievable,” said Duncan, one of four Berry seniors. “That’s the only word I can use. Actually, that’s two words, isn’t it?”
Duncan could be forgiven for her fuzzy math, considering all that she and her teammates have been through in recent days — and in their careers.
The Berry team was rocked this week when they learned former head coach Jim Izard had died. Izard, who resigned last January after 3½ seasons at the school, recruited all of Berry’s current scholarship players.
Prior to that tragedy, the Lady Vikings had also dealt with: an unbelievable string of serious injuries; the death of senior guard Neeley Davie’s mother; Izard’s shocking resignation midway through last season; and the disappointment of missing last year’s national tournament by one game.
“We’ve been through so much together the past few seasons,” said Davie, who drained a go-ahead 3-pointer early in the second half, “and that’s what really makes this title so sweet.
“For the seniors, it was a perfect to end our home careers. Just absolutely perfect.”
The gym was only about three-quarters full, although the fans who came generated constant noise and provided a championship atmostphere.
The Berry victory was almost a carbon copy of Friday’s 59-53 semifinal win over Lee. Berry faced identical 29-24 halftime deficits in both games but rallied late each day.
The Lady Vikings closed Friday’s game with a 13-2 run, and then had the 13-0 run to end Saturday’s game.
“Resiliency has been the trademark of this team all season,” said Norton.
Mickey Duncan, who hasn’t practice in almost two months due to a herniated disc in her back, played 12 courageous minutes. Berry freshman Briana Caldwell also played strong, scoring a big basket late in the first half to stem a Brewton run.
“Every girl on this team played a part,” said Norton.
Berry trailed 48-43 after a layup by Brewton’s Tamika Drinks-Holloway with 4:49 to go. But Ranfos hit a 3 at the 4:26 mark, and Phillips followed with a terrific up and under move to tie it at 48 with 3:41 to go.
Berry scored the rest of its points at the foul line, going 8-of-10 over the final 1:58. The Lady Vikings’ defense was stifling in the final four minutes, preventing Brewton from having any open looks.
“We played our game down the stretch,” said Duncan. “There were spurts when we tried to play at Brewton’s pace. But in the end, we played our style.”
Most teams in similar situations would have had butterflies in their stomachs. The Lady Vikings, however, had bumblebees on their hips.
The Berry squad adopted the bumblebee as their unofficial mascot for Saturday’s game, and had stickers of bumblebees stuck on the waistline of their shorts.
Why, you ask? Here’s the explanation:
“It’s a scientific fact that a bumblebee’s wings are two small for it to be able to fly. The only reason it can fly is because it thinks it can,” said Davie. “That was the attitude we took into today’s game. People didn’t think we could do it, but we believed we could.”
Duncan said the title was a gift for Izard.
“We’ve had him on our minds all week,” said Duncan. “We wish he would have been here to see it.”
