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Tiger girls on top of district as second half of season begins
There is no reason why the Brentsville District girls basketball team cannot be a contender for the Northwestern District title again this year and make it back to the regional playoffs.
The only issue the Tigers face is half their district opponents can make the same case for their own teams.
Brentsville (7-3 overall, 4-0 conference) faces stiff competition this season from James Wood (6-4, 2-1), Millbrook (5-5, 2-1) and defending district champions John Handley (6-4, 3-0). Central (4-6, 1-2) has also delivered at least one regular season loss every season since Brentsville moved up to the Group AA level in 2003.
What the Tigers have going for them aside from statistics is talent. Not every squad has a player like senior Kimmy Hopkins, who crashed the 1,000 career-points barrier in her junior year and is on track to break the school record for most career points – boys or girls – by the end of the season.
“Forget that she’s a good basketball player,” Brentsville coach Eugene Baltimore remarked during a Tuesday afternoon phone interview. “She’s just a great person and kid.”
Those who do know Hopkins for her basketball skills have noticed a relentless pursuer of the ball who is almost always in the top two or three on her team at the end of each night in scoring, routinely finishing with double digits.
Yet, according to Baltimore, the forward has “never asked about points scored. All she’s worried about are wins.”
Hopkins was named the Northwestern District player of the year for the 2006-07 campaign and likewise earned first-team, all district honors last season.
Baltimore’s sophomore daughter Keyla has offered a significant counterweight for Hopkins at the point guard position this season, giving Brentsville a one-two punch of sorts at the top of the key.
Hopkins managed to score 15 points in the first half of a home game against James Wood last month, but the Colonels limited her to only two points in the second half. That’s when Baltimore picked up the slack, delivering 11 out of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to help Brentsville secure a 58-46 victory.
The Brentsville depth chart does not end there though as 6-foot-tall senior Aly Jacobson has an unusual shooting range for a center.
Jacobson sank five 3-pointers on the road in a losing effort against Liberty last December, as did sophomore Chelsie Tooke.
“She brings a lot to our table,” said Baltimore of Jacobson, now in her fourth year with the team. Her freshman sister Kelly is being groomed to take over at least part of the senior’s role next season as the younger Jacobson has been one of Baltimore’s main surprises coming in off the bench.
“She’s a little fire plug,” stated the coach. “She gets out there and she competes. She’s not afraid of anything.”
Though Brentsville has only lost to Group AAA schools Liberty and Battlefield, even those were games the Tigers had a chance to win at but let slip away.
Battlefield delivered Brentsville’s first lost of the season Dec. 7 in Haymarket when the Bobcats managed to hold back the Tiger offense in the second half after the teams were even at the end of two quarters. When Brentsville faced Battlefield again during the Briar Woods Christmas tournament, the Tigers found themselves in a familiar position at the half, leading by one this time, but once again fell flat in the second half when Battlefield pulled in 26 offensive rebounds and won 48-39.
Baltimore reckoned the Bobcats simply worked harder in order to win.
“They got all the loose balls,” said the coach. “They were more aggressive on the boards than we were.”
Despite the winning record over all, Baltimore’s taken a few hints from the losses.
“We’re going to have to do a better job in all aspects, offense and defense,” said Baltimore. “We know we’re going to have to play 32 minutes of basketball every night from here on in if we want to win the district title this year.”
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