WB2k23: Africentric stops Liberty Union

After blowing away its last four opponents by a combined score of 287-40, Africentric found itself in a battle in its district semifinal match against Baltimore Liberty Union.

Last night at Teays Valley High School in Ashville, Ohio, Africentric had to focus a bit more than usual against pesky underdog as it led Liberty Union by a slim margin of 19-15 at the half.

"Our goal was to stay close," said Liberty Union senior guard Delaney Peck after her final high school game. "We packed the middle in because we knew they were a driving team and would most likely beat us off the dribble. We played our 1-2-2 zone to allow the middle to be closed-off so they had to shoot outside shots. On the offensive end we just tried our best to push the ball and get to the hole."

Liberty Union did a great job of containing Africentric's high scoring forward Natiah Nelson in the first half. She posted just five points in the first two quarters.

"We wanted to push her out of the paint and make her have to shoot mid-range shots," Peck said on her team's strategy against Nelson.

In the third quarter Africentric had a 25-23 lead when center Taelynn Clayborn made a heads-up play by forcing up an akward shot that earned her two free-throws. She made the front-end before missing the second which led to an offensive rebound by Nelson who scored which broadend the Africentric lead to 28-23. Africentric ended the quarter with a 31-25 advantage.

Peck and her teammates hung around for as long as they could but eventually Nelson found a way to put more points on the board. She ended the game with 15 points including six free-throws in the fourth quarter.

"We knew we had to be more disciplined than they were and it showed when they weren’t matched up. We scored very easily," Peck said. "The end of the game, I felt that Africentric wanted it a little more. Their defense picked up and made our team have a few turnovers back-to-back allowing them to score and put up a lead."

Senior guard Ariel Grace also contributed to Africentric's 48-38 win, scoring all eight of her points in the fourth quarter.

Peck closed her career with 13 points making four of her seven shots from the field and five of her seven free-throw attempts. The 5-8 guard scored a season high 30 points with eight assists in an early season win over Danville.

Following the loss, she took a second to reflect on her final season. "After the game, my emotions were all over the place," Peck said. "I’ve loved my teammates the past three years but this year I felt this team had one of the strongest connections for myself. I was with most of these girls everyday. Either going to get food or just hanging out at each others houses. They were the little sisters I never had."

Peck is receiving interests from schools in Ohio, West Virginia and South Carolina as she is considering continuing her basketball career on the collegiate level.

Africentric will continue its quest to a state title as it faces Milford Center Fairbanks for the district title on Thursday in Sunbury, Ohio. Milford Center Fairbanks defeated Marion Pleasant 49-33 at Olentangy Berlin in Delaware, Ohio.