THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 g
Page B-3
Gaithersburg gaining control of 4A West Whitman on 10-game win streak, Holy Cross climbing up WCAC standings
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Clarksburg High School’s Calob Carter takes the ball to the hoop against Springbrook on Friday.
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Clarksburg boys find scores with baseball equipment n
Coyotes use pitch counters to calculate points per possession
There is a secret to Clarksburg High School’s boys’ basketball team holding previously No. 4 Springbrook to 52 points — the Blue Devils’ second lowest output of the season — in the Coyotes’ 55-52 upset win on Friday night: baseball equipment. Specifically, pitch counters. Clarksburg coach G.J. Kissal isn’t a big fan of the National Basketball Association, but curiosity got the better of him with the league’s recent fascination with advanced statistics, particularly the points per possession stat harped on by San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Kissal, lacking the abundant technological resources at Popovich’s disposal, has resulted to a more primitive method of calculating Clarksburg’s points per possession, divvying out pitch counters to his assistants to keep track of both the Coyotes’ production per trip down the court and the opposing team’s. He’s more concerned with the latter, noting that the goal is to limit the opposing team to .75
points per possession. Though Kissal hadn’t calculated the exact number for Springbrook, Prince George’s County coaches estimated that there are roughly 80 possessions in a normal game, give or take a few. This would come out to .65 points per possession for the Blue Devils on Friday night, easily satisfying Kissal’s goal of .75.
BOYS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK BY TRAVIS MEWHIRTER “I kept hearing how Popovich stresses points per possession,” he said. “And I thought about it, and I didn’t think points per game was anaccuratemeasure,soIsaid,‘Let me try this.’ So I went to Modell’s and I bought two pitch counters, like baseball pitch counters. ... “The stats could not be clearer. In the games we have lost — in the three losses that we have — we have given up over .85 points per possession. Everything else is .75 or below. It’s proven effective.” When the Coyotes don’t hit that number — take an 83-59 drubbing at the hands of Gaithersburg in which the Trojans aver-
aged more than one point per trip (1.02 to be exact) — the result isn’t quite so pretty. “They kicked our [butt],” he said. “You get stops, you win.” Having a goal number has had an additional positive effect, aside from the winning aspect. It has gotten the players excited to playdefense.PriortoKissal,whois in his second year with the school, Clarksburg hadn’t played much man-to-man defense. Now, that’s all they play, and each individual feels a certain sense of accountability in reaching that goal of .75. “It gets us excited, it gets us into it,” Kissal said. “It allows them to focus. It’s taken time change the mindset. It’s funny. We put in our 2-3 [zone] at the beginning of the season and Josh [Hardy] and Xavier [Sewell] said, ‘We don’t want to play that,’ which makes me feel good because if you’ve ever seen us play, we don’t play zone.” At the season’s midpoint, it is still a work in progress. “We’re just playing hardnosed defense and turning our defense into offense basically,” Hardy said. And that’ll help both sides of the points per possession. tmewhirter@gazette.net
Churchill hockey to honor soliders County teams fare well at Winter Blitz wrestling tournament
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Winston Churchill High School’s ice hockey team has long been the class of the Maryland Student Hockey League, but on Jan. 31, in a game against rival Bethesda-Chevy Chase, it will extend that class beyond wins and losses. The Bulldogs plan to wear camouflage jerseys in honor of the USA Warriors, a program designed to give military veterans who have been injured in military action the chance to play hockey in a environment that is suited to their needs.
PREP NOTEBOOK BY GAZETTE STAFF “The seniors on the team have organized this game as a way of reminding all of us of the value of our heroes to us, both on and off the ice, and to our community,” manager Scott Levenson said in a news release. Several members of the USA Warriors team are expected to be in attendance that evening when the puck is scheduled to drop at 6:20. — NICK CAMMAROTA
Watkins Mill surprises at wrestling tournament Among all the strong wrestlers featured at the Winter Blitz tournament at Charles H. Flowers High School on Saturday, it was a trio from Watkins Mill that quietly snuck under the radar. While Paint Branch won the tournament and Poolesville finished in third, the Wolverines shot all the way up to fifth thanks to a strong championship round. At 106 pounds, Fabio Wuintanilla scored a 6-4 decision against Northwestern’s Steve Velasquez while Serigne Sock (113) won his match easier than the score would make it seem, beating Northwestern’s Abraam Benitez, 8-6. After starting the championshiproundwithtwowins,Watkins Mill heavyweight Billy Emerson
RAPHAEL TALISMAN/FOR THE GAZETTE
Watkins Mill High School’s’s Fabio Wuintanilla (top) gains advantage over Northwestern’s Steve Velasquez during Saturday’s 106-pound final at the Winter Blitz. closed things out with a dramatic pin of Forestville Military Academy’s Khalil Proctor — a Division I football recruit — in 3 minutes, 42 seconds. — NICK CAMMAROTA
Blair, Poolesville rely on divisionals for next year No one has to sleep on the couch in the Johnny Leong/Emily Rawson household this week. The husband and wife, swimming and diving coaches at Poolesville and Montgomery Blair, respectively, competed against each other Saturday with their spots in the county’s top division on the line. The consolation prize, the two joked beforehand, would be a spot on the couch. The teams, however, split Saturday’s meet. Poolesville’s boysekedoutaone-pointwinand Blair’s girls won comfortably, 10071. “I waited for [Rawson] to go to bed and then I looked up her lineup,” Leong said with a chuckle. “It was almost like we were playing battleship when we were doing our lineups. I was like, ‘I’m going to try and do this,’ and thenshewouldcounterwith,‘Well then I’m going to do this.’ But it was very fun, we were both taking about what matchups would spotlight whom and what would bring the best out of our kids.” Either Blair or Poolesville, which made its debut in the coun-
ty’s top group this winter, will drop down to Division II next year based on this dual meet season but that decision will come down to the divisional meet Feb. 1. Each dual meet win is worth one point, teamsthenearnpointsindecreasing amounts — with more than a one-point differential — based on their finish at the division championship. The team with the lowest overall combined score between girls and boys, drops down to the next division. Saturday’s match capped off the division schedule with Poolesville ahead by a single point. Though Blair’s boys have not yet won a meet, the preseason favorite to contend for a state championship, is still capable of doing well this postseason. The Blazers, who were missing a couple swimmers Saturday, boast top-level talent and points awarded in relay events at championships are worth double those of individual events. Plus, swimmers are allowed an additional event — two individual, two relays — during the postseason. “It’s definitely going to come down to the divisional meet,” Leong said. “I think Blair will do well at divisionals. I’m crossing my fingers for Poolesville, though. Only time will tell.” — JENNIFER BEEKMAN
The Gaithersburg High School girls’ basketball team has won seven of its past nine games and sits atop the Montgomery 4A West Division after starting off the season 0-2. Senior Janessa Fauntroy is anchoring the Trojans frontline and scoring a team-high 12.7 points per game. The 6-foot-1 forward has been playing well of late, averaging over 15 points in Gaithersburg’s last four games that included a victory over Thomas S. Wootton on Friday. “This is the best game
GIRLS BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK BY ERIC GOLDWEIN she’s played all year,” Gaithersburg coach Adrian McDaniel said after the Wootton win. “Honestly, I’ve been on her pretty hard because she’s not been contributing what she wanted. But today, she came in with a hurt knee and just took over like I needed her to.” Fauntroy, a second-team All-Gazette selection last season, signed a National Letter of Intent to play at the University of Maine, according to a Jan. 16 school announcement.
Holy Cross heating up After a slow start, the Academy of the Holy Cross is on a four-game win streak and climbing up the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference standings. The Tartans (7-11, 5-4) defeated Bishop McNamara 52-41 on Friday, jumping out to a 13-2 lead after the first quarter and hanging on for their fourth straight win. Rhamat Alhassan, a 6-foot-5 center, is averaging 13.3 points per game and leading Holy Cross in scoring. Jillian Dunston, who signed a letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Michigan, averages 12.9 points and
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Gaithersburg High School senior Janessa Fauntroy is leading the Trojans in scoring (12.7 ppg) this winter. scored a game-high 16 points in the McNamara win.
Whitman keeps winning Montgomery County’s hottest team, Walt Whitman, is on a 10-game win streak (as of Monday) after Friday’s 44-43 victory against Paint Branch. The Vikings (11-2, 5-0) have not lost a game since falling to Bishop McNamara on Dec. 14. “I think this gives us confidence to go on the road against a tough team and win,” Whitman coach Pete Kenah said after the Paint Branch victory. “It shows that if we do need to travel for playoffs we can win in this environment.” Senior Avery Witt led Whitman with 13 points and junior Nicole Fleck hit a clutch 3-pointer to put the Vikings ahead with 18 seconds remaining.
“I cannot give Nicole enough credit that 3-point shot she made,” Kenah said. “… I’m proud the girls were able to enjoy that moment and then focus.” Paint Branch (10-2, 4-0) remains atop the Montgomery 4A East Division after its second loss of the season. “Whitman is a good team but there were a lot of things that we are in control of that we need to fix, we helped them out by missing a lot of layups,” Paint Branch coach Rochelle Coleman said. “The comforting thing is the things we need to work on can be fixed.” Panthers senior guard Kiara Colston scored her 1,000th point against Springbrook earlier this month. egoldwein@gazette.net