Gaithersburg Coach Accused of Poor Sportsmanship Following 88-41 Dismantling of Blair

Friday afternoon the Montgomery Blair Blazers (11-6) arrived late to Gaithersburg High School to face the Lady Trojans (14-0), causing the start time of their game, an eventual 88-41 loss, to be pushed back.

It is customary that during team introductions, coaches shake the opposing players’ hands. However, Blair head coach Erin Conley elected to skip over the tradition because, she said, she had arrived too late to the court to wish her opponents good luck. Her omission, however, seemed to cause a stir in the gym and anger from Gaithersburg coach Adrian McDaniel. Following the game however, he shot down that notion.

“It was just a misunderstanding on both parts,” he said. “We talked and resolved it. She’s a great coach, and it was just a misunderstanding on both sides.”

The Trojans dominated the first half with their full-court trap defense, creating turnovers, and scoring at will. They especially clicked in the second quarter, which they opened a 23-0 run.

Blair’s bright spot of the night, junior Myla Sapp, finally scored the lone basket for the Blazers in the quarter with 1:37 remaining. Sapp finished with 23 points, but Gaithersburg led 52-8 at half.

The Blazers went on a 12-6 run of their own in the third, followed by an 11-0 Trojans answer to lead 73-24 after three.

With six minutes remaining in the game and his team’s lead hovering around 40 points, McDaniel subbed three of his starters back into the game, prompting accusations of poor sportsmanship from the Blair bench.

Even the Trojans seemed to agree, as following the game a group of Gaithersburg players verbally apologized to Conley for their coach’s playing rotation.

McDaniel later defended his substitution pattern.

“When I sub, I try to mix [reserves] together because they want to get in with my starters,” he said.

“I didn’t put my whole starting five in. … So when the time comes, down the road and with playoffs, they have that experience. It was nothing intentional to do, I just wanted to get my reserves time with my starters to keep the flow going.”

Conley sought out Gaithersburg Athletic Director Jason Woodward after the contest and asked him to speak with McDaniel. Woodward and McDaniel met in a private room, which Conley was then asked to join for a discussion, the contents of which were kept private.

Both teams are back in action Monday when Blair hosts Sherwood and Gaithersburg visits Springbrook.

To keep up with local sports, visit www.twitter.com/patchsportsmd. 

Download the movie