THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 g
Page B-3
Damascus hands Gaithersburg first loss Swarmin’ Hornets pick up signature victory by shocking Trojans
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History wasn’t doing the Damascus High School boys’ basketball team any favors when it visited undefeated Gaithersburg Friday night. The Swarmin’ Hornets were always competitive, having five of their eight losses decided by 11 points or less, including a two-point loss to Central Valley, a six-point loss to Clarksburg, another two-point heartbreaker to Watkins Mill and another sixpoint loss to Bethesda-Chevy Chase. The problem? Free
BOYS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
BY TRAVIS MEWHIRTER throw shooting. Combined between the losses to the Coyotes, Wolverines and Barons, Damascus went 39-for-71 from the line, a ghastly 55 percent. So forgive coach Butch Marshall if he wasn’t brimming with confidence when the Trojans began fouling to stop the clock on Friday night. But then something strange happened: the Hornets made 8-of-9 in the final four minutes to seal a 61-56 upset of the thenNo. 3 Trojans, ruining Gaithersburg’s shot at perfection. Stephon Jacob went 4-for-5 in scoring 21 points, Matthew Torrence 4-for-4, and Joseph Daniels 2-for-2. “It should give us a lot more confidence, especially when we step up to the line,” Marshall said. “It gave our guys the confidence that you can go into any environment and win. We’ve had that a couple times where we have the opportunities and miss the free throws. It was a big plus because when we have a lead and they’re fouling, when you knock those down it makes a big, big difference.” Marshall made sure to note that Gaithersburg was without leading scorer Anthony Tarke (17.8 ppg), who rolled his ankle in a 52-48 win over Quince Orchard two nights before, and
Betsy Knox (right) of Walt Whitman High School looks to shoot against Maggie McClain of host Montgomery Blair on Friday.
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Gaithersburg High School’s Aaron King (front) was not at full strength due to injury when the Trojans were upset by Damascus on Friday. that point guard Aaron King also wasn’t fully healthy, having hurt his back and operating at what Gaithersburg coach Tom Sheahin estimated to be “75 percent.” “We were banged up but Damascus had a great game plan, awesome game plan, and they spread us out,” Sheahin said. “It just seemed like they got every loose ball, even balls that were tipped out of bounds seemed to go their way.” Any bounces from the rim weren’t helping, either. The Trojans made just one field goal in a 3-point second quarter to head into the half down 23-18 and played from behind for the remainder of the game. Sheahin, while disappointed by the loss, wasn’t crushed by it. It was an out-ofconference game still early in the season with two of his best playmakers either out or nagged by an injury. Tarke had warmed up, testing out the ankle, before the coach ultimately decided to sit him.
“We start out with 10 of our first 13 games on the road,” Sheahin said. “If you would have told me we’d be 10-1 at this point in the season, I’d be very happy. Very rarely in sports does somebody go undefeated, it’s a hard thing to do.” The Trojans responded by attending a voluntary team practice the next morning at 8:30 — an hour and a half before the scheduled start time of 10 a.m. “The big thing was we handled it really well,” Sheahin said. “They handled it very well.” Unfortunately for Damascus, any momentum from the win will essentially stop there. The Hornets have an 11-day layoff for exams before getting a rematch with the Wolverines. “I wish we could play tonight, tomorrow night, last night,” Marshall joked. “Everything kind of aligned for us.” tmewhirter@gazette.net
Georgetown Prep sweeps key meet Little Hoyas dominate rivals DeMatha, Gonzaga n
The Georgetown Prep swimming and diving team defeated three-time defending Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving champion and historical rival DeMatha in a tri-meet held Saturday in Bethesda. The Little Hoyas, who are undefeated to start the 2013-14
PREP NOTEBOOK BY GAZETTE STAFF season and poised to have a successful championship season, prevailed 101-85 over Gonzaga and 130-50 over DeMatha. Prep won 10 of 12 events Saturday and finished two in the top three of six races. The Little Hoyas’ tremendous junior class accounted for five of eight individual events. Grant Goddard and Carsten Vissering won two events apiece. Both have broken Prep pool records early this winter, Goddard in the 200-yard freestyle and Vissering in the 200yard individual medley. — JENNIFER BEEKMAN
Richard Montgomery’s Song to swim at Columbia There are no athletic scholarships offered in Ivy League sports but after giving his verbal commitment to swim at Columbia University, Richard Montgomery senior Gregory Song recently signed a document that for all intents and purposes acted as his national letter of intent to swim for the Lions in 2014-15. A top 10 indi-
vidual scorer at last year’s Metros, Song has been integral in the Rockets’ recent success. A third-place finisher at last winter’s state championship meet, Richard Montgomery is making quite the campaign for itself as a major postseason contender this championship season. With Saturday’s win over defending state runner-up Montgomery Blair, the Rockets remain the only undefeated boys’ team in the county’s top division with Saturday’s contest against a .500 Winston Churchill team closing out its division schedule. — JENNIFER BEEKMAN
Tilton continues to impress on QO’s mat Quince Orchard heavyweight wrestler Connor Tilton maintained his impressive start to the season by scoring a big win against Urbana’s Nick Keller in the championship match of the Hub Cup Tournament at North Hagerstown High School. A tournament that always features a stacked field of competition, Tilton added this win to his Mad Mats title from December and appears on track to potentially better his third-place finish in the state tournament from a season ago. — NICK CAMMAROTA
Clarksburg performs well at Montgomery Invite The Coyotes had a strong showing at Saturday’s Montgomery Invitational indoor track meet with Claudia Ababio, Alexus Pyles and Carlos Vanzego all placing at the event. Ababio, a senior shot putter, tookfirstplace(42feet,4.5inches). Pyles, a sophomore, placed sec-
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Carlos Vanzego of Clarksburg competes in the triple jump finals Saturday during the Montgomery County Invitational.
ond in the high jump (5-4) and third in the 55-meter hurdles (8.43 seconds). Vanzego, who started jumping last spring, recorded a personal best in the triple jump (45-09) and finished second. “He’s really, really progressed a lot. It’s exciting,” Clarksburg coach Scott Mathias said. Montgomery County had several second-place finishers, including John F. Kennedy’s Devon Hairston (55 hurdles), Col. Zadok Magruder’s Bethany White (55), Thomas S. Wootton’s Urgy Eado (800), Poolesville’s Chase Weaverling (3,200), Walt Whitman’s Clare Severe (mile) and Richard Montgomery’s boys 3,200 relay team. — ERIC GOLDWEIN
Whitman takes control of 4A South Division Good Counsel has won three of past four games n
The Walt Whitman High School girls’ basketball team doesn’t have one top scorer; it has about five. Sophomore Marie Hatch is leading the team with just 10.1 points per game, but the Vikings (10-2, 5-0) have several players capable of taking over on any given night. Lately, freshman guard Abby Meyers has carried the offense. She tallied a personal best 15 points in Friday’s 65-38 victory over Montgomery Blair and a team-high 12 points in a win over Richard Montgomery. “She fits right in, like you wouldn’t even know that she’s a freshman,” senior Avery Witt said. “She goes out on the court and plays so well. I love it.” Whitman has won nine
GIRLS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK BY ERIC GOLDWEIN straight and is in first place in the Montgomery 4A South Division after ending Blair’s (9-2, 4-1) eight-game winning streak. The Vikings’ last loss came Dec. 14 against private school Bishop McNamara. Winston Churchill (6-6, 3-2) has won three straight and sits in third place in the division after defeating Walter Johnson, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Richard Montgomery. The Bulldogs are undefeated since their Jan. 4 overtime loss to Blair.
Good Counsel gains steam Our Lady of Good Counsel rebounded from a tough
loss to Bishop McNamara with a 65-50 victory over St. Mary’s Ryken (5-8) last week followed by a 62-57 win over Georgetown Visitation (10-2), and has now won three of its last four games. Senior Stacey Koutris stepped up in the last two wins, scoring a combined 35 points. Junior Nicole Enabosi is averaging a teamhigh 11.1 points and has hit double-figures in all but three games. The Falcons (8-5, 3-2) are competing for a top spot in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. Paul VI Catholic (11-3, 6-0) and Elizabeth Seton (12-3, 6-1) rank first and second in the WCAC, respectively. egoldwein@gazette.net