She’s not even left-handed.
But when Caroline Shimp found herself in a tight space, late in a tight game, the Robinson senior flipped the ball with her off hand toward the basket while drawing a foul, and then watched it go in for a crucial basket in the Occoquan (6C) Region Final against West Potomac.
The bucket from just inside the key with 2:51 to go in the game gave the Rams more breathing room and a boost of energy en route to a 45-35 victory.
It was Robinson’s second consecutive 6C region title. Friday, it will face Oakton in one state tournament quarterfinal at Fairfax High. West Potomac also advances to the state tournament and will meet defending state champion Madison on Friday at a neutral-court site.
“I just tried to get a shot off, hoping it would go in,” said Shimp said.
On the play, which began with a missed Rams shot, Shimp’s teammates sophomore Georgia Simonsen and senior Amelia Simonsen had cleared a space for Shimp, who said she grabbed the ball from a Wolverines player and then took a tough angle to release the ball.
Shimp was one of several players who stepped up with 6C Player of the Year Georgia Simonsen (five points) struggling offensively for most of the game.
“The game was up and down, and we put our heads down and pushed through it,” Georgia Simonsen said. “That basket definitely gave us a boost of energy when we needed it. You could feel it on our bench, too. We got a lead in the second half and kind of took our foot off the gas, but [Caroline] gave us the spark we needed.”
Shimp’s basket stopped a six-point run by West Potomac that pulled them to within four points in the closing minutes.
The Rams (25-3) nursed a narrow lead for most of the third quarter and then surged to a 10-point advantage early in the fourth quarter after McKenna Huff hit four free throws in a 30-second span.
Huff was instrumental following Shimp’s basket, canning four more free throws down the stretch. She finished with 10 points in the quarter, hitting all eight of her foul shots.
“Georgia is a great player, and we know teams will focus on her,” Huff said. “When she’s [having an off night], we all know we need to help fill in for her scoring.”
Shimp said, “Teams have scouted us so much all season, and they know we want to go inside. We adjusted by having our guards drive to the basket, and that started to open up things for us down low.”
Amelia Simonsen took up much of the slack for her younger sister, scoring seven points in the first half and nine in the game while playing point guard.
The teams split two regular-season games this year and Georgia Simonsen was limited to seven points in each. Much of that credit goes to Wolverines senior Julia Hopper, who matched up with Robinson’s bigs all night.
Hopper gutted the game out, scoring nine points, despite picking up her fourth foul with 1:12 to go in the third quarter. Teammate guard Olivia Jones led West Potomac (19-9) with 11 points. She made her first and last three-point shot attempts in the game, but like many on the team, struggled to hit shots throughout. The Wolverines were 7 for 12 from the foul line overall.
“We had our opportunities all night,” West Potomac coach Brian Colligan said. “Robinson is a really talented team and I thought we defended them well throughout, but we couldn’t get our shots to go down. We’re excited about our chance to play Madison. It will be tough, but as I told my girls, there are a lot of teams at home now, their seasons being over.”
The Rams’ season ended last year in the state semifinals against the Warhawks. Coach T.J. Dade said that’s “been something for us to build on all season.”
–Paul Bergeron
@PaulBergeron3
Give credit/mention everyone that played and players that actually made a difference. You always highlight the same players and the story is always the same. It’s 5 players on the court, not 2 or 3.