'Rines are Reloading, not Rebuilding

When Watkins Mill girls’ basketball took the court last week to open their 2011-2012 campaign, it was the first time in four years without Jasmine McRoy and Jartuh Toweh wearing the Orange and Blue.

The tandem had been the team's focal point throughout Ivan Hicks's tenure as coach, and finished their four-year run among the school’s all-time leading scorers. The squad that's suiting up instead includes only three players with varsity experience and a pair of freshmen in the starting five.

On paper, it’d be easy to dismiss this as a rebuilding year. But the team that is taking shape on the court, though rough around the edges, has shown a penchant for a tenacious, up-tempo style of play that has Hicks focusing less on their early record and more on their run to the post-season.

"I expect us to have a winning season, and I expect us to make some noise come the playoffs," he said. "If [we] come to practice every day and leave it on the court, we will win games. I’m convinced of that."

vs Paint Branch (Dec. 6)

In the Panthers, Watkins Mill faced a 6’-5” center and one of the better backcourts in Montgomery County. With size and experience on their side, Paint Branch jumped out to an 8-0 lead that left the Lady ‘Rines looking shell-shocked and unsure of themselves.

Senior guard Josepha Mbouma settled the offense in, leading Watkins Mill to cut the lead to 14-10 before loose play and fast-break turnovers helped Paint Branch build the lead back up to 29-14 at the break.

"First half, we were, without question, a bundle of nerves. We were nervous," Hicks said. "So I said, ‘Let’s slow ourselves down. Just catch the ball and work on the basics."

Coming out of the locker room, Watkins Mill went to the pick-and-roll and started converting their chances. Those makes set up a full-court press that triggered a rash of Panther turnovers, which the Wolverines pushed upcourt at every opportunity.

As the game opened up, the Wolverines’ starting freshmen—Dominique Walker and Danielle Durjan—asserted themselves. Walker showed an athletic, slashing style while Durjan drained back-to-back shots from behind the arc. That in turn freed up room for Mbouma to hit a pair of textbook jumpers from the elbow.

The rally brought brought the home crowd to a roar and closed the deficit to 40-35, but Paint Branch staved off the comeback before stretching their lead to a 53-42 final.

Despite the loss, the Lady ‘Rines proved that—when clicking—this year’s squad is not going to be pushovers by any stretch.

"The next several games, we’ll still have our learning curve," Hicks said. "By midseason, we’ll have everything down and we should start being more consistent, and win several games in a row going into the playoff month."

Games Two and Three bore that out: An at-times dominating win at Richard Montgomery on Friday followed by an uninspired loss to Sherwood on Monday.

@ Richard Montgomery (Dec. 9)

Those things came together Friday night on the road against the Rockets.
Watkins Mill built as much as a 13-point lead before entering halftime up 11. The Rockets struggled to keep Dominique Walker from driving to the hoop, and she scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half.

“Watkins Mill is a fast-break team...and we tried to prepare for that, but weren't able to adjust until the second half,” said RM coach Jen Hoffmann.

Turnovers came back to haunt the Lady ‘Rines in the second half. The Rockets went on a 9-0 run at the end the third quarter, capped off when freshman point guard Tyra Sinclair hit one of her three three-pointers to cut the lead to two. Moments into the fourth quarter, Sinclair made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 35.

“We weren't playing consistent and RM's shooters started to get a little hot. I was somewhat concerned, but not overly concerned, because I knew our girls would get it back,” Hicks said.  

Right on cue, Watkins Mill answered with seven straight points. The Rockets rallied again back to pull within two before Watkins Mill went on to a 47-41 win.
“When they tied it up, I called timeout and said 'Ladies, they're back in the game now',” Hicks said. “And said that if we played as a team and hustled, that we'd win this game.  And we did that.”

vs Sherwood (Dec. 12)

The steepness of the Lady ‘Rines learning curve was evident for their third game of the season, which proved to be a night full of futility as the young squad took on Sherwood.

Watkins Mill struggled all game to convert fast breaks and in-close opportunities. They managed a mere 14 points by halftime, went even colder in the third quarter—scoring 2 points in the period—and finished the game with more than 30 turnovers.

Sherwood kept Watkins Mill in the game with equally sloppy play—the Lady ‘Rines led 14-12 at halftime—before Katie Ruth and Nikki Steiner ratcheted up their play in the second half and built the Warriors' biggest lead, 33-16, with 4:30 left in the game.

Watkins Mill came to life behind some hot shooting and full-court defense, battling back with a 10-1 run over the next 90 seconds. Shay Braithwaite hit a pair of free throws. Daniel Durjon buried the team’s first three-pointer. On Sherwood’s ensuing possession, Dominique Walker’s blocked shot started a fast break that Durjon finished on the run. Mbouma followed that with a steal at midcourt and another three-pointer, forcing a Sherwood timeout with 2:59 on the clock and their lead down to 34-26.

Watkins Mill forced a string of more turnovers but couldn’t convert the ensuing layups, and the game wound down to a 37-28 finish.

The Lady 'Rines (1-2) next face Seneca Valley (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Watkins Mill. The Screaming Eagles are coming off an overtime win over B-CC and beat Sherwood 60-51 in their season opener.

Aaron Oster contributed to this report.