Baltimore scores 32 in Brentsville win
By Staff
If children weren’t widely taught to share at such a young age, perhaps Rob Weaver’s job would be easier.
For months, the first-year Brentsville coach has discouraged his star player from sharing the basketball. Finally, after a 73-33 win over Kettle Run on Wednesday in Nokesville, it seems Keyla Baltimore has been reconditioned.
Baltimore scored a season-high 32 points against the Cougars, upping her average to 15.5 points per game.
“We're teaching her to be more selfish scoring,” Weaver said. “It's taken her half the season to get in that mindset.”
Baltimore had developed into a distributor by playing point guard on AAU teams since age 11. She was always the third or fourth scoring option on those teams, but Brentsville needs the talented junior to be their go-to player.
The Tigers started this season slow with Baltimore adjusting to her new role, but they’ve since gone on a 5-3 run and now have a 6-8 record.
“We're winning now because she's scoring,” Weaver said. “Without her, it's ugly.”
The same can be said of the Cougars (1-13) without their point guard, Jazmyne Moore, who leads them with 10.6 points per game. Moore is much like a younger, shorter version of Baltimore – apt to create off the dribble.
“Jazmyne is definitely a key player for us,” Cougars coach Jenn Olinger said of the sophomore who scored 34 points in a loss to James Wood earlier this season.
Moore tried to keep Kettle Run in the game against Brentsville, scoring a team-high 16 points, but the Cougars’ only lead came when she scored the first basket of the contest. >From there, the Tigers quickly built a 22-4 lead by the end of the first quarter behind 11 points from Baltimore.
A prospect to play at a top Division II college or a D-I program like University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Baltimore hasn’t completely shaken her true point guard tendencies. She still managed four assists in Wednesday’s game.
“I'm a pass-first point guard. That's what I'm use to,” she said. “But that's what I've been working on because I know that for us to win I have to be more selfish.”
Chelsie Tooke was on the receiving end of three Baltimore assists. She finished with 13 points and three of Brentsville’s eight 3-pointers.
“We're a shooting team,” Baltimore said. “Mostly our game is run and gun and shoot.”
The Tigers rely on that style because they’re undersized and often use a five-guard offense, Weaver said. Yet, much of Brentsville’s success against Kettle Run was a result of offensive rebounds. The Tigers finished with 21 offensive rebounds (four apiece by Kelsey Taylor and Ashly Tracey) despite being at a height disadvantage.
“It's been a problem from day one – boxing out and rebounding,” Olinger said. “I feel like a broken record something... That concept just hasn't exactly sunk in.”
Other concepts are, though.
“They're trying to execute the things I ask them to execute,” Olinger said of the Cougars. “At the beginning of the season that wasn't really happening. We're starting to understand what it takes to win a game.”
In fact, Kettle Run won its first game as a program Jan. 7 against Warren County, winning 45-33 behind 14 points from Moore.
“We looked like w won the national championship we were so excited,” Olinger said. “I keep telling them it's all in the effort and the heart... I really feel like we'd be in so many more games if they'd give me that every game.”