Brentsville girls' season ends in state quarterfinals
By Dan Roem
Another fourth-quarter collapse led to another heartbreaking loss for the Brentsville District varsity girls basketball team last Saturday.The Tigers gave up a two-point lead at the end of three quarters to lose to Greensville County in the first round of the state tournament, ending Brentsville's season.
It marked the second straight game the Tigers held a lead in the fourth quarter only to fall after an offensive shutdown.
“[We] missed three layups and just went cold,” said coach Eugene Baltimore. “That's basically it. Just couldn't hit a shot.”
Even though Greensville scored first, Brentsville battled back and held a lead from the end of the first quarter all the way through the third quarter.
However, the Tigers just could not close the deal in the final two games of their season.
“The thing is, even against Charlottesville, we played three really good quarters,” said Baltimore of the regional final.
For Brentsville seniors like Kimmy Hopkins and Ali Jacobson, two of the three main stars of the team along with sophomore Keyla Baltimore, it was the first time in their four years that they had been on a team that made it out of regions.
“It meant a lot to them because they worked hard,” said the coach of his seniors. “We've been to regionals three out of their four years. So they had a lot to be proud of.”
Brentsville (21-6) stampeded through its Group AA opposition during the regular season, losing only four times to Group AAA schools en route to capturing the Northwestern District regular season and tournament championships.
The Tigers earned a bye in the first round of regions before winning a nail-biting thriller against Freedom (South Riding) at home in the semi-finals.
The run through the playoffs produced some unlikely and often unsung heroes for the Tigers.
Senior Ali Ruotolo and sophomores Kelly Jacobson and Chelsie Tooke were among those who hit 3-pointers in the regional semi-finals. The win clinched the first-ever state appearance for the Brentsville girls' basketball program.
“A lot of times, those people that did the little things don't get recognized a lot, but I recognized how much she meant to this basketball team,” Baltimore said of the senior Ruotolo. “I saw the little things day in and day out.”
Baltimore expects next year to be a rebuilding year for his team as the twin titans Hopkins and Jacobson will be lost to graduation in June, as will Rutolo and Kathleen Farmer.
“It's a tough task because you lose a lot when you lose those four seniors that we have,” Baltimore said.
Next year's team will be point-guard Keyla Baltimore's squad to lead.
Aside from Hopkins and Jacobson, she was the only Tiger who consistently put up double figures offensively. Doing so helped her earn a spot on the all-district second team.
While the Tigers will have distance shooters in Baltimore and Tooke, it will be undoubtedly tough to fill the shoes of two six-foot-tall, first-team, all-district post players lost to graduation.
After all, Hopkins was named the Northwestern District Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Baltimore, the Northwestern District Coach of the Year, said he and the girls were definitely disappointed after losing at the end; they had accomplished so much during the season as a whole.
“Let me tell you: I've never seen so much excitement in the students of the school, teachers and also the community,” noted the eighth-year coach. “I had people stopping me at gas stations, stores and everything, just complimenting the program.
“It's a great feeling.”