Girls JV Basketball Season Recap
The Girls JV Basketball Team had another strong season, finishing at 8-7. Their season was a perfect example of why resilience and mental strength are so important.
In the early part of the season, the girls were on a three-game win streak. After trouncing on Seneca Valley, Laurel, and Wheaton (43-15, 54-16, 50-25), the girls were 3-0 and undefeated.
However, the early season highβs met a wall as the girls played NEC Rival, Paint Branch, who were 2-1 at the time. After a tough down to the wire 39-31 game, the girls had a loss on their record.
In their next four games, the girls had a brutally rough schedule, playing three teams who would finish the season with 11 wins. They would next face a Clarksburg team that nearly doubled their score of Northwest, their last opponent 48-28. They would then meet an 11-2 Sherwood team that punished the Paint Branch 65-28, a team that the girls had lost to closely. At the end of the stretch was Paint Branch, again.
Paint Branch, the week prior to playing Blake again, made Northwood look likeβ¦. well…Northwood beating them 63-4.
The girls went 0-4 through that stretch, even losing a close upset loss to Springbrook, which placed them at 3-5. Despite the tough schedule, the girls were competitive and fought hard regardless of the competition.
Freshman Mame Diope explains how the key was harder practice. βWe all knew that we could do better and werenβt performing at our best,β she says. βWe pushed harder at practice.β
In spite of ending the first half of their season poorly, the girls turned things around in their final seven games. The girls closed their season out 5-2 in which they would go on a five-game win streak. A five-game win streak that would include three blowouts against Northwood Kennedy and Watkins Mill (52-13, 44-15, 39-14 respectively.)
They also punished Springbrook in a revenge game that finished in a 40-16 whipping of their NEC rival. They won a tough match at Blair, escaping 39-25 at a record of 8-5.
βWe improved a lot as a team,β Diope adds. βMost girls went from never playing organized basketball to being able to shoot, dribble and control the floorβ
The girls finished off the season with two of the toughest opponents in the county. 10-5 BCC and 12-3 Churchill, whose only loss came to undefeated Whitman, twice, and Urbana.
The week prior, they ran over the dominant Sherwood team the girls had played before. Despite dropping both of these games, the girls played extremely hard. Both games went down to the wire and despite the girls losing both games, they played hard.
Diope expresses pride in the teamβs accomplishments and improvement. She adds, βwe worked hard and had a great coaching staff to help us get better.β
Even finishing with a winning record, Diope explains how the 8-7 record was misleading. She says, βthere were close games that we lost at the end that could have been wins.β
Congratulations to our lady Bengals for their strong finish as we look forward to big things next season.