- May 3, 2024
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The Sharks' Shakawanza Brown dives for a loose ball against Mainland. Photo by Ray Boone
Sharks guard Shakawanza Brown attempts a 3-pointer against Mainland. Photo by Ray Boone
The Sharks' Da'Jhai White tries to steal the ball from a Buccaneers player. Photo by Ray Boone
Atlantic's Jon'Keria Patterson blocks a shot by a driving Mainland player. Photo by Ray Boone
With her team down in the fourth quarter against rival Mainland, Sharks guard Shania Pope, one of the team’s top players, was out of sorts.
Down 53-50 with 5:18 to play, Pope, a deadly shooter from beyond the arc most games, walked into a wide open 3-pointer from the wing in transition. She airballed.
A minute later, with her team down five, she caught the underside of the rim on an open layup.
With her team down nine, Pope launched another open 3-pointer — this time, from the left corner. She airballed again.
And finally, in the closing seconds of the game and the lead far out of reach, Sharks point guard Shakawanza Brown flicked a pass to Pope, who fumbled it out of bounds.
The Sharks, who had previously beaten Mainland on Friday, Jan. 19 at Mainland High School, lost to the Buccaneers 64-57 on the night of Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Atlantic High School.
Pope scored six points and turned the ball over four times.
“I don’t know what’s going on with Shania, but we got to get her out of that funk before districts,” Sharks coach George Butts said. “She got down on herself after a couple of shots didn’t go down, and she thought that was it. We tried to pull her out of it. If she played well her, it’s a different ball game.”
Regardless of Pope’s struggles, Atlantic was still in the hunt for much of Wednesday night’s game.
After falling behind 24-12 halfway through the second quarter, the Sharks stormed back to take a 30-29 lead at halftime. Junior point guard Da’Jhai White nailed a pair of triples during the 18-5 run.
“We had to really fight back to get back into it,” White said. “Some of us had our heads down. But we had to believe it wasn’t over, though. That there was still a chance for us to come back.”
The Buccaneers quickly regained the lead in the third quarter, though. And they never relinquished it.
Brown, who scored a team high 16 points in addition to tallying six rebounds and eight assists, wasn’t happy with the energy her team brought against an opponent that took them to the brink in their last game.
“We weren’t boxing out. We weren’t executing. We weren’t focused,” Brown said. “It was a tough game. We beat ourselves by not doing what we were supposed to do.”
