Monacan (Va.) proves too much, takes home CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational crown

As one of the premier girls basketball programs in the nation, Monacan High School (Va.) was a heavy favorite heading into the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational.

Four games and four days later, head coach Larry Starr and the Chiefs were hoisting the tournament’s trophy at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. But it didn’t come without some hefty challenges.

Monacan rolled to a blowout win in the first round, before taking quarterfinal and semifinal wins by just an eight-point margin. In the championship, the Chiefs’ biggest advantage was by just eight points in the opening minutes before a tight battle with Winder-Barrow (Ga.) that went to the wire at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

“First off, my girls are incredible. The competition is also incredible, and I knew they were going to be tough games,“ said Starr, whose team defeated the Bulldogs 54-49 in the championship. “But it’s a senior laden team; they’ve won two state championships. They were No. 1 ranked when they were freshmen, they won state championships and sophomores and juniors and you could just see it out there. When times got tough, they just pulled together. They knew what they had to do.”

The Chiefs are led by Megan Walker, the No. 1 girls hoops prospect in the nation, according to ESPN, who last month committed to play at NCAA Division I powerhouse UConn. In the four games during the tournament, Walker – the tournament’s MVP – averaged 20 points and seven rebounds per contest.

She had 22 points and seven rebounds in Thursday’s championship and also put up 22 points and grabbed five boards as Monacan handed Georgia powerhouse Norcross its first loss of the season in the quarterfinals.

“She is just a tremendous player,” Starr said. “She lets all her play on the court do that talking, and she’s speaking volumes out there.”

Also stepping up for the Chiefs was senior Jaiden Morris as she put up 11 points and grabbed four rebounds, senior Alex Parson added 10 points, four assists and four rebounds, and senior Haley Eiser scored nine points in 17 minutes off the bench.

Seven of Starr’s 14 players are seniors and feels good about where they may end up.

“They’re always confident. Sometimes I wonder if they’re a little too confident, but when we were here and in another tournament before – we played top competition and the confidence is perfect. They prove they can get it done.

“We love tournaments like this and the CresCom is one of the best; the hospitality, especially from [Myrtle Beach mayor] John Rhodes is fantastic. We know we’re taken care of here, and hopefully after all is said and done that we ultimately take something from this tournament because we like where we’re headed,” Starr said.

As for Winder-Barrow, it fought valiantly in the tournament before just falling short. But coach Brandon Thomas said he has nothing but pride for the Bulldogs and what they’ve been able to do.

“Our community hasn’t had a whole lot of basketball tradition and this group right here has made a magical run making it to the state title game. But we lost by one. We’ve seen a lot of good teams and I really feel we’ve gotten better this week,” Thomas said. “We just fell short against a nationally ranked team and we can’t feel bad about it. The other teams we played here had really good records so we’re proud of them.

“We’re just thankful for the hosts; they put on a great tournament. I just wish more people came out, but we’d do it again even despite the lack of a big crowd.”

As for Starr and the Chiefs, they will head back to Virginia with some hardware and some good memories.

“We’re going to use this as motivation and will hopefully be a momentum booster for us,” he said. “We’d love to come back to this tournament some time; it’s just such a great time.”

Third Place Game

▪ South Shore (N.Y.) 46, Myrtle Beach 45 | The Seahawks entered the CresCom Bank Invitational undefeated at 8-0.

But after two tough games in the past two days, Myrtle Beach has now suffered two losses in a row following a narrow defeat to South Shore in the third place game of the tournament.

Myrtle Beach senior Nia Sumpter, who was named to the all-tournament team, led the Seahawks once again as she dropped 11 points and 14 rebounds in the losing effort. Ivy Collins also stepped up Thursday with 13 points, and Jalah Horton scored nine to help Myrtle Beach stay alive.

The Seahawks started red hot, going 12-2 out of the gate but South Shore fought back and trailed Myrtle Beach 23-20 at the break before the team collided in the second half for an eventful contest. In the end, Myrtle Beach committed 25 turnovers opposed to South Shore’s 14, which was a big difference in the contest.

Fifth Place Game

▪ Norcross (Ga.) 58, Wesleyan (Ga.) 53 | In a battle of teams from the peach state, powerhouse Norcross eked out a win over the Wolves for fifth-place honors at the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational.

Vanessa Blagmon scored 22 points and 11 rebounds, ehile Taylor Mason had 16 points and six boards to pace the Blue Devils (14-1), whose only defeat of the season came to the hands of eventual CresCom champion Monacan (Va.) in the second round.

While Norcross came out on fire with a 20-6 run to open the game, things slowed down for the Blue Devils in the second half as Wesleyan outscored them 34-29 after halftime but it wasn’t enough.

Consolation Championship

▪ Franklin County (Ky.) 74, Hillside (N.C.) 52 | The Wildcats took home the consolation prize from the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitation after cruising to a win over the Hornets.

Princess Stewart led the way with 20 points as four Franklin County starters scored in double figures. Rebecca Cook added 14 points and 15 rebounds, Savannah Coutney scored 13, and Josie Thocker contributed 12 as the Wildcats took the lead just before halftime and never let up, outscoring Hillside 42-28 in the second half.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Monacan (Va.) proves too much, takes home CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational crown."