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Win over Sherando keeps Tiger girls tied for second
Before the season even began, Brentsville District girls basketball coach Rob Weaver said he did not care much about what his team’s record looked like at the end of December.He insisted the true success indicator would be whether the girls were peaking toward the end of the regular season.
Fortunately for him, that is exactly what has happened.
Brentsville (9-9 overall, 8-4 district) surged into a tie with John Handley for second place last Friday night by topping Sherando 59-52, which was half a game above them in the Northwestern District standings at the time.
Undefeated Millbrook has already clinched the district title and will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
“If we can play at home and have all the home games before we have to go face [Millbrook], if they don’t get beat in the conference tournament, then we’ve got a chance to come out and win the district tournament that nobody believes,” said Weaver.
Securing home-court advantage in a competitive district may require the type of resilience Brentsville showed on Friday.
Despite being outscored in the first three quarters, Sherando pulled to 46-44 with exactly two minutes left on the clock.
Back-to-back foul shots by Keyla Baltimore then brought the Tiger lead back up to four points, but it was a steal by Stephanie Pratapas that became the catalyst for a momentum shift back in Brentsville’s favor.
The sophomore managed to swipe the ball from Sherando and pass it up-court to Baltimore for a lay-up and foul.
After Baltimore converted the three-point play, Kelsey Taylor ran and leapt toward a loose ball, which she gobbled up for Brentsville’s second straight steal.
Sophomore Kelly Jacobson eventually earned a 1-and-1 foul and subsequently made both her shots from the line to build up Brentsville’s lead to 53-44.
That was not good enough for Brentsville, however, as Baltimore and Pratapas teamed up for the Tigers’ third-straight steal.
“We had it down to two, we had them a little bit back on their heels,” said Sherando coach Tim Davis as he stressed how untimely turnovers cost his team the game. “And you can’t win with three minutes left in that situation. You’ve got to execute in those times. Good teams execute and average teams don’t.”
According to Baltimore, Brentsville is mentally equipped to apply pressure with its five-guard attack consistently.
“Coach Weaver tells us that defense wins us games. So, basically, during practice, that’s what we work on,” she said. “And I think defensively, our minds are better at it. We know when to step out in the passing lane. We know when to come out on them or to lay off. We recognize who can do what when it comes to shooters and drivers.”
That is not to say the Tiger offense is struggling.
While Baltimore led both teams in scoring (19 points), she hit just three field goals all night. She instead accounted for 12 of Brentsville’s 18 successful foul shots and missed only two all night.
Meanwhile, her long-time teammate Chelsie Tooke (9 points) sank a 3-pointer in each of the first three quarters, while Taylor converted seven open-court shots, including a triple of her own in the second quarter. Jacobson (6 points) rounded out the Tigers’ perimeter game with a third quarter 3-pointer.
“She’s worked on her shot so now she’s not only a threat outside, but a threat inside,” said Baltimore of Taylor.
After the game, Davis joined Weaver in testifying about how improved Brentsville has been since the Warriors topped the Tigers 61-54 Jan. 5 in Stephens City.
“What happens is, they’re relentless with it,” Davis said of the Tigers’ attack. “And eventually, what I try to tell my girls when we play defense, we’ve got to keep them from reversing that ball because every time you reverse that ball, it’s one more chance to get somebody out of shape because they’re so patient with it.”
Weaver said he thought district opponents are beginning to realize things have changed with the Tigers as the post-season approaches.
“What they saw from us in the first half, they’re not expecting what we’re giving them now,” he said. “We’re a different team. We’re not the same team they saw.”
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