COURTLAND—It’s hard to beat a team that executes its game plan to perfection. Wednesday night, Poquoson High School did just that, upending Southampton High School 43-25 in a Bay Rivers District girls’ basketball game.

The Lady Islanders have many weapons, including a strong outside and inside

game, which compliment each other. In the first half, Poquoson shot six 3-pointers. This forced Southampton’s defense to come out and challenge, and the strategy set up Poquoson’s 12-2 run to end the game.

Southampton’s Randa Jessee hit a jumper with 6:38 to play in the game to cut the Poquoson lead down to 35-25. Then, the Lady Islanders went to the inside game and scored on the same play four straight times, taking advantage of Southampton’s inside defense. Jeff Gross, Poquoson head coach, called it a “shuffle “ play, which he said dates to the 1960s and 70s.

“We tried to get the motion going and make them have to work. We know they are not real deep,” Gross said. “They were strong, but we controlled the ball.”

The Lady Indians (3-4, 3-3 BRD) played well from a three-minute stretch at the end of the second quarter through the third quarter. Although the Lady Islanders held the ball most of the end of the second quarter, they could not score against the Southampton defense. The Lady Indians outscored Poquoson (5-1) 10-9 in the third quarter. Southampton finished of the third quarter on a drive by Samantha Urquhart and an inside bucket by Michelle Lewis on a nifty pass by Anita Ricks, to cut the Poquoson lead down to 31-23. The fourth quarter is when Gross moved to the inside

game.

“On paper, that’s what we draw up, but we use it all,” he said. “We go with what the game is giving us.”

The Lady Indians have lost two straight Bay Rivers District games, including a 49-48 heartbreaker at Tabb on Monday.

“I think we just went away from everything we wanted to do,” said Aronda Bell, Southampton head coach. “We knew they were going to shoot the 3-pointer and we didn’t execute our defensive game plan very well. I’m not going to make any excuses, but the kids were out of school today and out of their routine.”

Urquhart led the Southampton attack with 10 points, Kelly Halverson scored 19 and Page Turner added 15 for Poquoson.

Southampton hosts Franklin on Dec. 28.

Southampton: Southampton High School’s Samantha Urquhart (l) and Randa Jessee (center) try to wrestle the ball away from Poquoson’s Fay Crawshaw.

Southampton2: Southampton High School’s Anita Ricks (r) brings the ball up against Page Turner of Poquoson High School Wedmesday night.

Southampton3: Regina Artis of Southampton High School brings the ball upcourt against Poquoson High School. The Lady Indians fell 43-25 to the Lady Islanders