The Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School girls basketball team made a historic win on the way to the state finals. B-CC beat North Point 51-31 on Tuesday, March 12 in the state semifinals allowing the Barons to advance to the Maryland 4A State Championships for the first time in the program’s history.
B-CC started the game against North Point with most of their starters getting fouls early into the game. By the second quarter, all but one starter had two fouls each, which led to many bench players spending more time on the court. B-CC sophomore forward Ashley Agard left the bench to play for 12 minutes. Agard made several positive plays while the starters were forced to sit, playing lockdown defense and grabbing five rebounds. “It felt exciting being able to step up and contribute,” Agard said in an interview with The Tattler, BCC’s student newspaper. Additionally, B-CC junior guard Elisha Robinson took on a bigger role, adapting to the starters sitting most of the game. She played limited minutes but managed to hold down the defensive end, managing six steals. “ Our on-ball pressure has gotten a lot better which has allowed us to force turnovers and get stops,” Robinson said.
Throughout the game, B-CC’s defense swarmed North Point, forcing numerous traveling violations and errant passes while also disrupting the rhythm of the offense. During his postgame press conference, North Point head coach Michael Serpone said his team turned the ball over 18 times in the opening half alone. “ We knew that if we pressured them and maybe got in their heads a little bit and made them make some mistakes, we could really capitalize on that,” Robinson said in an interview with Moco360. In the final quarter, the Barons’ defense continued as the lead extended to 25 points in the early portion.
The Barons’ win set up a rematch with Clarksburg HS in the state title. Earlier in the postseason, the Barons’ mounted a late fourth quarter comeback in the county championship to stun Clarksburg and claim the county title. Now, almost one month later, these two teams were playing for an even bigger trophy.
The Clarksburg girls basketball team won its first state championship title in program history against top-seeded B-CC on Friday, March 15, 2024. The Barons lost 43-36 after a hard-fought game. The inconsistency of fouls on both sides was a recurring theme in the game. With B-CC and Clarksburg both making six foul shots, but the Barons did so on 11 attempts ( 54.5%), while the Coyotes had 26 tries (23%). Clarksburg’s Turner sisters—senior guard Trinity, junior forward London, and freshman center Destiny—form 60% of the Clarksburg girls’ basketball team’s starting lineup. They scored more than 80% of the Coyotes’ points (36) in a dominant showing that led Clarksburg to its first state title. Learning from their previous struggles, the Coyotes (25-2) stood their ground this time. When the Barons were making a late game run, London drew a charge and Trinity scored five straight to retake the lead.
“This was our get-back game,” London said in an interview with The Washington Post. When London was at the free throw line or ball handling on offense, the chants of “overrated” echoed from the B-CC crowd and when ball-handling near the B-CC bench, players and coaches were clapping in London’s direction, in hopes of rattling one of the Coyotes’ leading scorers. It’s safe to say that didn’t work out as planned since she remained unfazed by the crowd. She finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, while drawing eight fouls. Along with overcoming the crowd, the Coyotes also had to overcome their long-standing free throw issues. Throughout the state tournament, the foul line was their greatest weakness. Again in the state title game, they finished 6-of-26 from the line, with London going 1-11. Forward Destiny Turner went 1-7, but her final free throw may have been the biggest one, extending the Coyotes’ lead to a two possession game with 46 seconds remaining. Just before the shot, her older sister, Trinity, who went 3-4 from the stripe gave her sister Destiny some advice.
“[Trinity] told me to just take my time,” Destiny said in an interview with Moco360 . “And if I’m going to jump on my free throw, try to hit the backboard.”
Before Destiny’s free throw, the game had been a back and forth battle, featuring nine lead changes, with four in the final frame. But after the shot from the elbow from Barons Senior Riley Petersen with 3:11 on the clock, the Barons were held scoreless The Coyotes clogged the paint and passing lanes and also grabbed more rebounds than the Barons to deny opportunities for the Barons to score. The Barons’ shooters went cold from the arc, shooting 0-6 from the three in the fourth quarter. When it mattered the most, they outscored the Barons 13-7, making their playoff fourth-quarter differential 75-41.
“It’s been a blessing to play with both my sisters,we’re always family no matter what happens,” London told Washington Post.
Article Written by Faith Kim of Seneca Valley High School
Photo by Ari Fine of Richard Montgomery High School