THE GAZETTE
Page B-6
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 g
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PREVIEW BETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE
n Coach: Jennifer Rushin 2nd year n Last season: 13-12 n Starters returning: 0 n Last state tournament: None
Outlook: Second-year coach Jennifer Rushin hopes to continue her turnaround of the Barons’ program after helping B-CC improve from a two-win season just two years ago. Seven seniors graduated from the 2012 squad, including all five starters, but Rushin said she believes her returners can continue the upward trend for the program. Senior captain Kelly Markham holds down the backcourt with juniors Julia Barakat and Mariama Tunkara. The Barons also feature a young frontcourt of sophomore Daisey Leahy and freshman Shantal Perez. “The chemistry is the biggest thing I have noticed early on.” Rushin said. “They are feeding off each other at practice — finding each other on the court — and that is definitely a different feel than we had last year.”
MONTGOMERY BLAIR
n Coach: Erin Conley 7th year n Last season: 12-14 n Starters returning: 4 n Last state tournament: 1997
— KYLE RUSSELL
n Coach: Kate McMahon 5th season n Last season: 17-7 n Starters returning: 1 n Last state tournament: 2003
n Coach: Adrian McDaniel 8th season n Last season: 18-7 n Starters returning: 4 n Last state tournament: 2012
Outlook: After three consecutive trips to the state title game and two straight state championships, the Trojans missed a trip last season to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in March for the first time since 2009. McDaniel doesn’t want his players to his team to forget. “I told the girls in the locker room the night we lost in the region title, ‘Remember this feeling, you don’t ever want to feel anything like this again,’” McDaniel said. “Hopefully the girls will take this experience and be able to move forward.” Senior forward Jessica Fauntroy, a second-team AllGazette selection, anchors Gaithersburg’s frontline. Senior guards Stephanie Pantos and Christine Mabry, along with senior forward Danielle Rojas are back. Senior guard Deja Hilliard rounds out the seniors with experience.
n Coach: Sissy Natoli 8th season n Last season 4-18 n Starters returning: 3 n Last state tournament: None
n Coach: Clyde Singleton 1st season n Last season: 13-14 n Starters returning: 4 n Last WCAC title: 2007
Outlook: With veteran coach Clyde Singleton taking over the program after serving on the staff since 2010 and a dynamic class of returning players, the Tartans appear poised to compete in the WCAC. Singleton — who has 25 years of coaching experience, including at nowrival St. John’s College — is expected to lean on all-everything volleyball star Rhamat Alhassan (University of Florida) and guard-forward Jillian Dunston (Michigan) to bolster a strong returning class of five seniors. With a schedule packed with games against nationally-ranked teams (Christ the King, Long Island Lutheran, etc.), Holy Cross will be tested. “We’re excited,” Singleton said. “There are some good teams out there, but I feel very fortunate because we’ve got five returning seniors.”
— NICK CAMMAROTA
n Starters returning: 2 n Last state tournament: 2009
Outlook: Clarksburg struggled at times last season with a young lineup, but returns the vast majority of that roster this winter and that can only bode well for longtime coach Sissy Natoli. Seniors Andie De Celis (forward) and Laurie Kostecka (guard/forward) are four-year varsity players. Sophomore forward Gabby Haddad (5-foot-8) and 5-10 senior Dasia George are expected to be the Coyotes primary options in the post. Natoli, who expressed concern about her team’s penchant to turn the ball over, expects her team to be better in February than it will be this month as players develop and become more experienced. “We’re going to try and run and get the ball into the post,” Natoli said. “We’re working on a lot of things and we’re getting better.”
GOOD COUNSEL
n Coach: Tom Splaine 4th season n Last season: 27-6 n Starters returning: 0 n Last WCAC title: 2013
Outlook: The Our Lady of Good Counsel girls basketball team has been among the perennial powers in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference in each of Tom Splaine’s first three seasons at the helm, winning the WCAC title in 2012 and 2013. But the Falcons graduated all the starters from those teams. The Falcons will rely on four seniors, Sara Woods, Taylor Scott, Stavrula Koutris and Elizabeth Gittings, junior Nicole Enabosi and sophomore Kendall Breese. Splaine noted that Breese will play the most important role in the team’s rebuilding process as point guard. “This is going to be a challenge for us,” Splaine said. “We’re looking to rebuild this season, but we still think we’ll be competitve in our league.”
— TED BLACK
WALTER JOHNSON
n Coach: Lindsey Zegowitz 3rd season n Last season: 18-6 n Starters returning: 2 n Last state tournament: 1986
Outlook: Last year’s Montgomery 4A South Division co-champion lost six seniors, including All-League post player Kristen Larrick. “We graduated most of our post players, so we’re a little bit smaller this year than we have been in the past,” said Lindsey Zegowitz, an 18-game winner in each of her first two seasons. “We’re more of a guard-oriented team.” Starting guards Melanie Ackerman and Sam Lee return to a team that will no longer run its offense through the post. “We’ll be playing a little bit of a different basketball game,” Zegowitz said. “We’ll be running a lot more, shooting more threes than normal.” Among those getting increased playing time will be post players Katherine and Margaret Howie, and junior point guard Erika Boyd.
— HARVEY VALENTINE
Outlook: Senior point guard Asha Henley and junior guard Citiana Negatu return for a young Blake team that has endured two straight losing seasons. “We’re going to be on the young side. We have three or four sophomores,” coach Patricia Gilmore said. “I think this is going to be an exciting season just watching them improve over the course of the year.” One to watch is sophomore forward Monica Hallmark. Gilmore said, “She’s just solid all the way around, extremely good passer, nice scorer, good rebounder, does a lot of things well.” Other returning players include seniors Brigit Ngaleau and Kimia Gaines. “The area that I think we need to improve the most is just being physical, rebounding,” Gilmore said. “That would be my biggest concern.”
BULLIS
n Coach: Clinton Perrow 1st season n Last season: 22-4 n Starters returning: 3 n Last ISL title: 2013
— HAVERY VALENTINE
DAMASCUS
n Coach: Steve Pisarski 16th season n Last season: 22-3 n Starters returning: 4 n Last state tournament: 2013
— KENT ZAKOUR
— JOHN HARRIS III
HOLY CROSS
n Last season: 5-15
CLARKSBURG
— JENNIFER BEEKMAN
GAITHERSBURG
n Coach: Patricia Gilmore 8th season
— KYLE RUSSELL
WINSTON CHURCHILL Outlook: Churchill will be young this winter with only two seniors but that doesn’t mean it’s a rebuilding year. The Bulldogs’ lone returning starter is last year’s leading scorer, junior Japria Karim-Duvall (11.3 points per game). An inside-outside threat, she is effective from all areas of the floor. Churchill will employ a more guard-oriented style this year that coach Kate McMahon said is predicated on better overall team speed than in recent years. Sophomore guard Nicole Brodkowitz led the team in field goal percentage last winter and was one of the strongest defenders. The Bulldogs will use their speed to put more pressure on their opponents, defensively, with a variety of sets, McMahon said. “I think we’ll be able to run a lot more full-court defenses,” McMahon said.
Outlook: The Blazers look to bounce back after a disappointing showing last season and will be led by a quartet of seniors. Erica Adarkwa, Shannon Healy and Debbie Olawuyi are back in the mix, while Maggie McClain will resume her starting role after missing most of last season with a stress fracture. Blazers coach Erin Conley said she expects them to catch teams off guard compared to last season, and McClain’s scoring ability will play a big part in that. “We are expecting to have a really good season,” Conley said. “We have a really strong first five or six, but the crux of the season will be how well we can develop our underclassmen, and how much they can impact and contribute to games and practices.”
JAMES H. BLAKE
Outlook: Four established starters return and the Swarmin’ Hornets should be strong once again, but coach Steve Pisarski has concerns about a lack of depth coming off the bench. Seniors Jenna Kaufman (G/F), Kelli Prange (G/F), Lauren Green (G/F) and Anna Warfield (G) are all back in their starting roles while classmate Libby Bowles (G) steps into the lineup to replace the graduated Becky Barrett. The starters, barring injury, should be one of the best units in the county despite a lack of team height. “We will pressure the ball and have better quickness, but we may not rebound as well,” Pisarski said. Damascus may start slow record-wise with a difficult early schedule (St. John’s College, Liberty Christian, Bowie and Riverdale Baptist), but should be ready come playoff time.
— JENNIFER BEEKMAN
ALBERT EINSTEIN Outlook: Einstein coach Julian Barron says the Titans are more comfortable with his system heading into his second year. “They have a better understanding of my system and the expectations,” Barron said. Another reason for hope is that this year the Titans will be much more experienced, returning seven players, including three starters. Sophomore guard Dalina Julien and senior point guard Abbey Buckingham should carry the scoring load. The other returning starter is senior center Mattie Taylor. The other two starting spots were still open a week before the season. Barron said they’ll have to rely on rebounding by committee this season. “This is a much more athletic team, we’re going to play more man-to-man, which we couldn’t really do last year.”
n Coach: Julian Barron 2nd season n Last season: 2-21 n Starters returning: 3 n Last state tournament: 1989
— KENT ZAKOUR
— KEN SAIN
HOLTON-ARMS
n Coach: Julie Treadwell 4th season n Last season: 7-11 n Starters returning: 4 n Last ISL title: 2008
Outlook: The Panthers have been a consistent presence in the ISL AA Division since winning the lower (A) division in 2008 but have not yet seriously challenged for the top division’s title. This year, they return four starters and look to take major strides from their 5-9 league record a year ago. Seniors Cameron Kelso, a 5-foot-6 guard, and Maddie Merkle, a 5-11 forward, captain a veteran cast. Last year’s weakness, a short bench that saw Holton tire and fall short in a number of close games, should be fixed thanks to a talented five-member junior class, led by guards Sydney Chapman and Gaites Layton. But the Panthers may have to wait before that depth kicks in; Treadwell said injury and illness somewhat hampered their preseason work.
HOLY CHILD
n Coach: Jamie Ready 5th season n Last season: 18-6 n Starters returning: 3 n Last ISL title: None
— JOHN Y. WEHMUELLER
JOHN F. KENNEDY Outlook: With seven seniors who have played in his system for at least two years, Cavaliers coach Kevin Thompson believes that this winter “could be a good year” for his veteran unit. With a seven- or eight-girl rotation, Thompson says he will rely heavily on his startn Coach: Kevin Thompson ing five to all contribute on both ends of the court. Senior 7th season guard and last season’s leading scorer, Makeda Wright, n Last season: returns, along with class and 15-9 backcourt partner Daysha Adn Starters ams, who missed most of the returning: 3 previous two seasons due to a thyroid gland issue, according n Last state to Thompson. “I don’t want to tournament: put undue pressure on any one None player,” Thompson said. “The biggest strength we have this year is experience. We have a lot of different pieces so are still figuring our style of play out.”
— KENT ZAKOUR
Outlook: The Bullis School’s lineup is slightly polarized this winter with three Division I recruits in 6-foot-1 Kirby Porter, Lynee Belton (6-3) and Ashleigh Williams surrounded by mostly underclassmen with little varsity experience. But young and lacking talent do not go hand in hand and defending Independent School League “AA” Division champion Bulldogs intend to be right back in the thick of things this winter, coach Clinton Perrow said. Belton, Williams and Porter each bring something different to the court. Belton is the Bulldogs’ biggest enforcer in the paint. Porter is more of a slasher, Perrow said, and Williams can do whatever is needed to give Bullis good balance.
Outlook: Heading into her fifth season as the girls’ basketball coach at Holy Child, Jamie Ready admits she will have her deepest, most basketball-savvy team. In addition to three returning starters from last year’s 18-6 squad — Tally Britt, Lilly Parrows, Colby Evans — Holy Child will have six freshmen on the varsity squad, including Jennifer Gribble and Marlee Burgess. Holy Child won its opening game last week and will head to the Bahamas Nov. 30-Dec. 4 to compete in the Paradise Island Tournament. Ready’s first game there will be her 100th as the team’s coach. The Tigers reached the ISL A Division championship game last year, but lost to National Cathedral. The Tigers leading scorer last year, Eileen Williams, graduated.
— TED BLACK
COL. ZADOK MAGRUDER
n Coach: Erin Borsody 6th season n Last season: 11-12 n Starters returning: 5 n Last state tournament: 1985
Outlook: The Colonels had one of their best seasons in recent history last winter, finishing the regular season at the .500 mark and nearly doubling their win total from the previous four years combined. This year, they should be able to build off that success with the entire veteran core returning, including senior guard/forward Janel Brown (6foot-1) and classmate forward Adjowa Pinkrah (5-7), both of whom coach Erin Borsody expects to be dominant presences on the court for the Colonels. Juniors Hope Randolph (5-9) and Hannah Barr (6-2) are also expected to make key contributions. “The girls and I are very excited about this season,” Borsody said. “... We have added depth in our bench. This year we will rely on maturity and veteran leadership to guide us.”
— KENT ZAKOUR