“We don’t often play in close games,” said Vance Charter Knights’ head women’s basketball coach Brian Howard on the Coach’s Corner of SportsTalk with Trey Snide. However, the Knights found themselves in a nail biter this week against Granville Central. The 6 – 3 Knights scored with 4 seconds left to pull out a 60 – 59 win over Granville Central who fell to 5 – 6. Kayla Simmons was the game’s hero scoring the last second basket. She totaled 17 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. With her performance, she was named WIZS Player of the Week.
Simmons and the Knights got off to a great start with an early 15 point lead but a series of turnovers allowed Granville Central to get back in the game. Coach Howard said the close game was beneficial to his team. The Knights get a lot of minutes from two freshmen and Howard said the stress of a close game was helpful to those freshmen players.
In speaking about the Granville Central game after Simmons hit the winning shot Howard said is first thought wasn’t about the shot but about getting back on defense. Four seconds can be an eternity in basketball and Howard wanted to make sure his team was prepared for a last second shot by Granville Central.
Howard said he expects that level of play from Simmons every game, She certainly delivered against Granville Central. Congratualations to Kayla Simmons, the WIZS Player of the Week.