NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. - The chanting and weeping, the sports-drink (bottle) soaked coach and the Nike Nationals Gold Division title - all of that - almost did not happen for Essence of Florida because Whitney Hand almost did not happen for Essence.

Hand, the 6-foot-1 daughter of former major-league pitcher Rich Hand, had committed to Oklahoma in early May and figured she'd skip the club-basketball circuit and spend the summer working on her game in other ways.

Whitney Hand of Essence

Not quite set on that course yet, Hand attended the Nike Regional Skills Academy in Atlanta, where she was approached by coach Kimberly Davis-Powell and met several of the Essence players. She was in. "They seemed like a cool group," Hand said after that group claimed the most coveted title on the girl's summer club circuit on Tuesday.

Hand had a, well, big hand in the championship, leading Essence in its 67-61 victory over DFW Elite Gold with 21 points and eight rebounds, as well as proving to be defensive kryptonite to DFW superstar Brooklyn Pope for the second tournament title game in a week.

"Whitney is the most underrated player in America," Davis-Powell said.

Essence usually revolves around high-powered offensive stars April Sykes of Crawford, Miss., the No. 2 player in the 2008 class, according to HoopGurlz.com, and Tiffany Hayes of Lakeland, Fla., ranked No. 13. But it was the Essence defense that contained DFW's lightning-bolt backcourt and wings, which in turn had shredded the rest of the field with its slashing ways. DFW coach Darrl Horton countered with 6-4 Cokie Reed, an impressive 2009 post, but her team-high 14 points were not enough to offset the loss of offense from most of DFW's usual sources.

Just as in Birmingham, Ala., the week before, Essence required a last-second bucket by Hayes, the Connecticut commit, to even be around for a championship game. Hayes said the play at the end of Essence's 60-58 semifinal win over Cy-Fair Shock 90 on was not designed for her, but Davis-Powell said, "It was. We just don't tell her and she figures it out on her own." Hayes ended with 20 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals against Cy-Fair, which was paced by the 18 points and 10 rebound of Nneka Ogwumike, one of the summer's hottest recruits.

Cokie Reed of DFW

Meanwhile, Pope, the often-spectacular, Dallas-based wing ranked 14th by HoopGurlz in 2008, continued her superb summer, slicing up the much ballyhooed West Coast Elite for 24 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in DFW's 70-62 semifinal victory. West Coast, which managed to knock off the Tennessee Flight Silver in a much-anticipated quarterfinal slugfest, was led by the 20 points and nine boards of 2009 post Monique Oliver of Las Vegas.

Those two Tuesday morning games set up a rubber match between DFW and Essence. DFW beat Essence behind an electrifying 30-point performance by Pope in the semifinals of the Nike Summer Showcase in Chicago. Essence then stunned DFW, which had the services of 6-7, shot-blocking and dunking sensation Brittney Griner, in the championship game at Basketball on the Bayou.

The common denominator in Essence's two victories was Hand's physical defense against Pope and her quick offensive starts. During the Nike final, she had two critical offensive clusters, downing a three, layup and another three to boost Essence to an early 15-4 lead, with another early benefit of foul trouble for Pope. Later, Hand downed a baseline jumper and another three that wrested the lead back from DFW for good with 11:20 to play. For good measure, she scored six points during the final 1:17, then afterward tried to deflect any credit.

"On this team, most of the focus is on April, Tiffany and Chelsey (Lee)," Hand said. "It makes it easier for me, but it's not me."

True enough, all of Essence's bracket opponents focused considerable defensive resources on Sykes. To her credit, she stayed aggressive, but mainly allowed the offense to flow to Hand, Hayes and Lee.

Erica Wheeler of Essence drives past
DFW's Cokie Reed

"I trusted my teammates to make shots, especially Whitney," Sykes said. "She was great."

Sykes recalled playing against Hand the previous summer and thinking "she had a different style of play. She could handle the ball, shoot, pass and defense. And she always hustled. She never quit, whether her team was down 20 or up 20. They say Brookly Pope is faster and bigger than Whitney, but she held her. Whitney does so many things. She's a great player to have on your team."

Still, it is, at first glance, an odd mix. Hand is the only white player on an otherwise all-black team. Though she is good enough to be ranked 48th in the country by HoopGurlz.com, stylistically, Hand is a mini-van in a fleet of sports cars. The biggest oddity is on a team with players from Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, Hand is from Fort Worth, Texas, which happens to be the area from which DFW draws its players. In fact, Hand will have a rematch against Pope and Dunbar High School on her home floor at Liberty Christian. "That will be a little weird," she said.

Hand considered all the incongruities, then smiled widely as the celebration continued behind her.

"This," she said, gesturing to her team, "feels like my family now."

Essence's Whitney Hand on the move

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