Their connection transcends words.
South Shore point guard Keyanna Glover only needed to see the look on teammate Destiny Philoxy’s face late in a game against Truman earlier this month to know she needed to step up during a city final rematch against Grand Street on Jan. 13. The players’ ability to communicate without words — the synchrony required — made them a force to reckon with during the South Shore girls’ 51–35 victory last Wednesday.
The sophomore Glover was not playing up to her potential, discouraged with her previous play and reduced minutes. That placed added strain on Philoxy, who had to score more and defend harder — and Glover saw it taking a toll during the team’s match-up with Truman earlier this month.
“Sometimes she gets tired and looks at me like, ‘Key we need you,’ ” Glover said.
The look reminded Glover how much her teammates need her and Philoxy to click.
“I realized they needed me, so does my point guard,” Glover said. “It just pushed me to play harder.”
Then the pair gave everyone a glimpse of what South Shore can do when they’re in sync. The duo combined for 15 of South Shore’s 20 points during a decisive third quarter that set the tone for the Vikings’ win.
Glover scored a game-high 15 points and had a personal 7–0 run during a Vikings 16–0 spurt ending the third quarter. Philoxy chipped in 13 points. The effort is exactly what Gladden hoped to see.
“That’s a hard backcourt to stop,” he said. “They both can create shots. They both can create shots for other teammates. If Glover picks it up and gets going, that is a tough backcourt to deal with it.”
The pair cut short a Wolves rally and gave defending champion South Shore (13–1, 10–0) control for good. Grand Street (8–6, 6–2) trailed 23–11 at the half but brought the deficit to 27–18 after a three-point play from Shanice Graves with 3:04 in the third. It took South Shore a little more than a minute and a half to score 16 points — mostly off Grand Street turnovers — and take 43–18 lead into the fourth.
“They opened it up,” Gladden said.
The loss marks Grand Street’s second-straight in league play — both without Syracuse-bound forward Shanique Edwards. The junior forward is ineligible to play. She hasn’t met minimum school-attendance requirements, because her mother has been in and out of the hospital over the last two weeks, according to Wolves coach Corey McFarlane. In his eyes, her absence wasn’t the reason for the losses.
“Shanique not being there is not an excuse to lose to South Shore,” McFarlane said.
Senior guard Kasiah Lucky scored 14 points for Grand Street. South Shore held the Wolves’s top forward, Star Fitzgerald-Greer, to five fourth-quarter points.
The defensive effort pulled South Shore through a difficult — but undefeated — four-game stretch away from home. It looks more and more like a team capable of defending its crown, but it knows Grand Street will try to ususrp that position.
“We are just as good as last year, because we have the same chemistry,” Philoxy said. “We know each other more, and we got heart. It means a lot, but it doesn’t mean we are not going to see them again.”
