There are some really good teams at the top of the old Concorde District. Oakton, Herndon and Chantilly all figure to be contenders to make states. #17 Centreville is no slouch either, having given Herndon and Chantilly good games and beaten #11 Fairfax. But while they don’t make the news of the big four atop 6A North Conference 5, Westfield and Robinson can be dangerous at times as well. Centreville found that out first-hand Tuesday night, falling to the Rams in OT 36-34 on a late bucket by sophomore Kamryn Meador.
The Rams have had a tough time of it of late. They only won four games all of last year and their first three conference games this year they lost by an average of almost 20 points. But T.J. Dade’s squad has a decent amount of talent–it’s just young. The Rams started three sophomores, a freshman and a junior against the Wildcats. While the potential is there, it has been a rare occurrence Dade’s squad plays a complete game. This time out the Rams still weren’t great throughout, but they did enough to win.
Robinson came charging out of the gate, taking a 14-5 lead late in the first quarter on some good defense and three-point shooting. But then the offense went cold as the Lady Rams managed only three points the rest of the half. The Wildcats, meanwhile, took advantage of the Rams’ offensive woes to take the lead off 15 second quarter points. The Rams found it difficult to match up with the size and talent of Centreville junior Callie Doyle and speedy sophomore guard Ashley Martin, and at the half they trailed by six points. It appeared as if the Rams’ strong early play would be rendered moot in another conference loss.
“We had a nice first quarter and then everything we did in the second was pretty much self-inflicted,” Dade said. “I ripped them at halftime and left them to talk it over among themselves and fix it, because there was nothing else the coaches could do.”
Fix it they did. The Rams started to buckle down defensively, while sophomore Joelle Hugney carried the offense. Although a smallish guard Hugney had seven boards on the night, ripping one down and impressively going coast-to-coast to trim the Centreville lead to three in the third. She then buried a three-pointer on the team’s next possession to tie things up at 25. The Wildcats were hindered by Doyle getting into foul trouble and eventually fouling out. They did manage to regain a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but without Doyle their offense went cold in the fourth. Centreville only was able to score three points in the final eight minutes.
“We need her,” Centreville coach Tom Watson said of Doyle and his team’s lack of offense and inconsistency. “I don’t know, you caught us on a bad night. Last Friday we were running the floor and doing everything right and today we just couldn’t seem to score anything. 11 points in the second half plus overtime, I mean, what can you say about that?”
Even with Centreville’s lack of scoring, the defensive-oriented Wildcats made the Rams work hard just to tie things up at the end of regulation. A key bucket by freshman Isabella Edwards off a feed from Jalyn Scales was huge, as was the Rams’ full-court defensive pressure. Then in overtime, after Hugney scored for Robinson off a steal and Centreville scored on a pass from junior Tatiyone Clagett to Martin, the stage was set for one final Rams’ possession.
The Rams went into a kind of weave looking for the right shot and eventually found it. Meador received the ball and attacked the glass from short-range after receiving a pass from junior Allison Gressett leaving the short corner. There was little room for the guard to operate, but she managed a beautiful scoop shot to give the Rams the lead. After Clagett’s shot was stopped cold on the other end by Gressett, the upset was complete. Gressett was the unsung hero the crowd may not have noticed, but Meador was the hero everyone did. The video of the play is below.
“I thought I was going to turn it over,” Meador said after the game. “I ended up finger-rolling it up but I wasn’t sure if it was going to go in or not. I got really lucky!” When asked what the win meant for the team, Meador seemed extremely enthusiastic. “This win just gave us a boost of confidence. I think we can definitely pull out some more conference wins this season.”
The Wildcats (1-3, 10-5) were led by Martin with 12 points. Despite playing limited minutes Doyle added six, as did senior forward Anna Yee off the bench. For Robinson (1-3, 6-10) Hugney was huge, scoring 15 points to go along with her impressive board work. Meador added ten points. Both teams has ample opportunities to win the game in regulation. Centreville was only 5-14 from the free throw line on the night while Robinson was 4-12. Both teams are going to have a hard time going forward if they don’t improve those numbers.
“I told the girls at the end of the game it was a good win,” Dade said. “It was an ugly win, but it should be a character-building experience–something we learn from. They gutted it out and we found a way to win.”
–Chris Jollay
stats are unofficial
| CENTREVILLE | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| CONKLIN | 2-8 | 1-2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | |
| GAMBONE | 1-5 | 1-4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | |
| DOYLE | 3-4 | 0-2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | |
| MARTIN | 5-9 | 2-3 | 12 | 2 | 2 | |
| TOKAM | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |
| Hall | 1-3 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| Clagett | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Sanders | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Axton | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Yee | 2-6 | 1-2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 14-43 | 5-15 | 34 | 24 | 10 | |
| Threes: Yee 1-1, Conklin 0-5, Leigh 0-2, Clagett 0-1, Axton 0-1 | ||||||
| ROBINSON | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| HUGNEY | 6-14 | 1-3 | 15 | 7 | 1 | |
| SCALES | 1-8 | 0-0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |
| MEADOR | 4-8 | 0-3 | 10 | 3 | 2 | |
| EDWARDS | 2-6 | 0-1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | |
| GRESSETT | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| Leigh | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kearny | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dozier | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Downey | 0-1 | 2-4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 13-38 | 4-12 | 36 | 27 | 7 | |
| Threes: Hugney 2-7, Meador 2-4, Edwards 1-4, Scales 1-7 | ||||||