Girls basketball: Plata gets 1,000th point as White Plains clinches County Center trip
WHITE PLAINS — It took two minutes and 43 seconds Friday for White Plains to score its first point in the Section 1 Class AA quarterfinal contest with visiting New Rochelle. And that was a single foul shot.
But it didn't take long after that for the third-seeded Tigers, to get rolling.
They generated offense out of tight defense throughout the game but no more so than in the two-and-a-half minutes that followed that lone foul shot.
Aliya McIver scored twice off her own steals and Ineivi Plata also scored after she swiped the ball.
On a day when the junior Plata, who needed 11 points to hit the 1,000-point mark for her varsity career, scored 15 points, White Plains did little wrong in a convincing 65-42 win.
What it means
Sixth-seeded New Rochelle, which fell 53-44 in a recent regular-season game to White Plains, finished the season 16-6.
No. 3 White Plains, now 19-3, will play No. 2 Ketcham on Thursday at Westchester County Center in the Class AA semifinal.
Player of the game
White Plains had a superbly balanced attack with four players hitting for double figures.
But only one hit and surpassed 1,000 points.
Top player honors went to Plata, the junior point guard, who buried four 3-pointers (one from really long range, directly off a side-court inbounds) and finished with 15 points.
Her milestone shot was a baseline 3 early in the fourth quarter and gave the Tigers a 20-point cushion at 43-23.
Plata, who wants to play in college, later said of reaching 1,000, "It was an accomplishment. My entire family was here. It's special for me."
"She keeps that motor going (when other key players are having off games). She keeps (the team) composed," Tiger coach Benj Carter remarked of Plata.
By the numbers
Plata's 3s were part of eight overall by the Tigers. The other four belonged to Capri DeMara, who finished with a team-high 16 points.
Aliya McIver, who did a good job handling the ball in tight traffic, finished with 15 points.
And Sequoia Layne, who had several blocks, including some when the game was still very much anyone's, hit for 11 points.
Anneliese Reggio, who missed a chunk of time after leaving the game with 5:41 left in the third quarter and her face bleeding enough to require places on the court to be wiped, returned wearing a different, unbloodied jersey and hit a fourth-quarter shot to finish with six points.
New Rochelle junior Rylie Rosenberg, who multiple times found herself sprawled under the basket after driving the lane and being fouled but who was also comfortable shooting from the outside, draining three 3s, finished with a game-high 26 points. She was nearly perfect from the foul stripe, going 11-for-12.
She had one highlight-reel bucket, driving, stopping, faking out an excellent defenseman in McIver, then scooping the ball underhand and into the basket and drawing a foul from McIver.
While seven Huguenots scored, no one else had more than four points. Both Brianne Foley and Skye Pressley had four before both fouled out in the fourth quarter.
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They said it
"They did a good job keeping the pressure up (on defense) and we just weren't hitting our shots," Rosenberg said, adding her squad also committed too many fouls.
Of her team's year, she said, "We were 16-6. I'd say that's a pretty good season but we have stuff to work on."
While a trip to the Section 1 semifinals and to the vaunted Westchester County Center will be new for all of his players, Carter, the Tigers' coach for six seasons, is a veteran, having led Alexander Hamilton to two championships there.
Up next
Ketcham beat the Tigers by only four points early in the regular season.
That was unusual, since, aside from its loss to Albertus Magnus, Ketcham destroyed most Section 1 schools.
But Carter, who sits just three victories from 200, indicated the score was no fluke. In fact, he said had his team not missed multiple foul shots and follow-up layups off the boards, it would have won.
But his message to his team will extend well beyond that.
"Just be who you are. Everybody gets nervous. Stay the course," he said.
"We are so excited," Plata said. "We knew this game was really important: Go home or play at the County Center."
She believes if it plays with intensity from the opening tip, it will win.
"We have to take good shots and attack the basket. But defense is our priority. We know the offense will come," Plata said.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Section 1 girls basketball: Plata, White Plains top New Rochelle
