GREENSBORO, N.C. — When you lose your leading scorer and three-time ACC player of the year less than a week before the postseason, it forces you to retool and reboot — quickly. The plan for Kenny Brooks and No. 11 Virginia Tech? Just hoop.
“We had to figure out what we were going to do [without Elizabeth Kitley],” Brooks told reporters after Virginia Tech’s 55-47 ACC Tournament quarterfinal win over Miami on Friday. “We made up a couple of plays. We had a play called ‘summertime’ today, and it was just like, ‘Pretend like you’re playing summertime basketball and just go hoop.’”
It’s not exactly the most orthodox approach, but when you have the youth and talent that Brooks has on his roster, it works — even at the highest level.
The “nation’s best conference [with] the nation’s best coaches” as Miami head coach Katie Meier adamantly deemed it is tough to win in. The familiarity of teams and finality of results create for some of the toughest battles that programs will face all year.
Brooks wants his players to embrace that they’re the returning ACC Tournament champions (while being regular-season champs at the same time), but that’s tough when many of this year’s core contributors weren’t in Blacksburg last season; some weren’t even in college yet.
“I noticed one time we were in a timeout and I looked and I’m like, ‘Damn, I got three [freshmen] in at the same time,” Brooks said. “You look back on it — we only had two players on the floor at any point in time who played in the ACC Tournament last year. And everyone else [was] watching it last year.
“I’m very proud of the way that they came out. They stepped up — they knew they had to. We challenged them this week because they needed to be productive for us, but they’re going to be good. They really [will].”
Tech’s trio of freshmen Clara Strack, Carleigh Wenzel and Carys Baker all clocked valuable minutes in the win over Miami. Strack — who burdened the bulk of Kitley’s workload — finished with 10 points and five rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.
She helped the Hokies keep things in control offensively, though they shot just 5-for-26 from 3-point range. Her shot clock-beating bucket late in the fourth pushed Tech’s lead to four and sparked a 6-0 run that slammed the door shut on the Hurricanes.
“Clara’s been big for us for a good portion of the year,” Olivia Summiel said. “She’s young and she’s raw, but she showed a lot of potential, and to see her out there making big time shots and big time plays [is] really awesome.”
“She just worked, and she wasn’t perfect, but I think she showed us glimpses of what she’s going to be in the future, and it’s very exciting for us because she’s very talented,” Brooks said.
“She’s not scared of the moment. Sometimes we don’t even know if she knows she’s in the moment, but we’ll take that because it allowed her to be able to produce for us and I’m very, very proud of her.”
Baker contributed with a 3-pointer and three rebounds, while Wenzel led the team with five assists and had a layup through contact in the first half.
The three freshmen were all on the floor in a pivotal portion of the first half for Tech. After Georgia Amoore picked up her second foul and exited the game with 5:01 left in the second quarter, they helped Tech finish the half on 7-2 run to lead 25-20.
Despite missing their top two scorers, the Hokies didn’t suffer a dramatic drop-off, a testament to the culture and depth within the Tech locker room.
“Sometimes they get a bad rap because people want to say it’s the Kitley and Amoore show — and it is to a certain extent — because when you have two players of that magnitude, you want to be able to utilize them whenever you can,” Brooks said. “We’ve ridden them all the way to a top-10 ranking [and] an ACC regular season championship; we would’ve been fools not to do that.
“But we have other kids who are capable as well, and today they were able to show it.”
Brooks will need his freshmen to step up again on Saturday against Notre Dame in the semifinals at noon ET.
The Irish dominated the Hokies 71-58 in their first meeting eight days ago. Now, with Kitley sidelined for the rest of the tournament, a well-rounded performance — with contributions from the youngsters — will be needed more than ever.
“Notre Dame is playing as well as anyone in the country right now,” Brooks said. “We experienced it last week, their physicality. They’re a little bit different than they were last year. They’re tenacious on the defensive end, obviously with the addition of [Hannah] Hidalgo.
“We know it’s going to be a tough task. We’ll get back and we’ll figure some things out, and we’ll try to see what happens.”
Box Score: No. 11 Virginia Tech 55, Miami 47
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Great year, no matter what happens in ACC semis.
If anyone can come up with a last minute plan vs ND, it’s Kenny Brooks.
KB is in the mode of playing what you have. Got some young players. That’s it.
KB didn’t sound real confident. I can’t imagine losing your All-American and coming up with a new game plan this late in the season. Hope he’s successful!!