Last year was a fun battle in the Patriot District, with Robinson, West Potomac, and South County finishing tied atop the district. South County won the district tournament, Robinson won the regional tournament, and West Potomac and Robinson made it to the state semifinals.
Those three teams might very well battle atop the district again. The South County Stallions have to be considered the favorite if they stay healthy, however. The Stallions have one of the best one-two punches in the public school ranks in tall guards Laila Tull and Natalya Wooten. Tull, a senior who is signed to play at Gardner-Webb next season, can do it all. She’s a very good pure point guard who can also shoot and score with the best of them. Wooten is only a junior but the Division I prospect should impact the game even more this season. Her superior length and athleticism already make her an ace defender, and she continues to flash considerable scoring ability on offense.
The Stallions lost Savannah Simmons to graduation in the frontcourt, but Tull and Wooten are tall and athletic enough to play the frontcourt and rebound well and bully inside for buckets. Coach Rudy Coffield can do this because he has plenty of solid backcourt options. Junior Makyah Mason is a fun guard to watch. The explosive combo guard scored in bunches last year and plays the point. Junior guard Peyton Baines Trapp is another combo guard with talent and experience. She’s underrated and is capable of making an impact.
Then, there were three significant transfers. Maia Melendez is an explosive scoring guard who arrives from Woodbridge. Adriana Mayorga is a very quick, experienced point guard who has been at O’Connell, and Anna Marsh is a tall guard/wing that arrives from Paul VI.
There were three other freshman and sophomores on the varsity roster last year that are slated to return. Sophomore center Juanita Nichols-Fields and junior forward India Young give Coffield valuable weapons to use, especially against bigger teams. The depth and talent is enough to make the Stallions a state title contender.
It will be weird to talk about the Robinson Rams without mentioning Georgia Simonsen, although we in fact did just again mention Georgia Simonsen. There’s reason for the Rams to be excited about their chances this year even without what’s her name, however.
First, the Rams boast a backcourt that is as dangerous in transition as anyone in the region in senior Madison Coutinho and sophomore London Augustin. The athletic and relentless Coutinho has improved leaps and bounds as a point guard since she made the varsity as a freshman. In the halfcourt now she’s extremely dangerous probing defenses for a drive and can bury the three once she gets the ball back after moving off screens. She’s a powerhouse.
Meanwhile, there were rumors Augustin might transfer to a private school in the offseason, but she returns and gets a chance to really pour in points alongside Coutinho. Augustin looked fantastic this summer. She can score from inside and outside and has an effective jumper with lift, even when she shoots the three-pointer. Also, the combo guard can man the point, which means Coach TJ Dade can probably have Coutinho or Augustin run offense at all times.
Senior wing Parker Lowden is back and will provide more offensive firepower. As is solid senior guard Lanise Dixon, who gives the Rams yet more ball-handling and defense. The defense, as always, will be solid under Dade. A question may be on the boards, where Simonsen often delivered 10-plus. If the Rams are decent here and outlet effectively, it will allow Coutinho and Augustin to attack in transition more. The good news is the Rams only lost two seniors, and viable candidates in the frontcourt include returnees like senior Mikayla Christensen, junior Madilyn Schmitt, and sophomore Chloe Shin.
The West Potomac Wolverines are definitely a threat to duplicate their run to the Class 6 Virginia Final Four last year. Joe Petrucelli only lost three seniors from last year’s team, and while two of those seniors were First Team All-Patriot Olivia Jones and the rugged Jill Humphreys, a lot of firepower returns. Program depth is very good right now on Quander Road.
Abby Beddis, who has signed to play at Denison next year, is a do-everything bigger guard. She’s hit some massive clutch shots in her career and will no doubt look to score even more this season. She’s an excellent three-point shooter who can defend both on the perimeter and down low. Dawn Houston, who was selected first team all-district alongside Jones last year, is a defensive ace. The cerebral guard has always been that, but her offense has now caught up with her defense. When she gets downhill she’s extremely tough to stop, and her quick first step and outside shot makes her a weapon in the halfcourt as well.
Houston can mark an opponent’s best offensive guard or forward, but so can returning all-defensive district pick Delores Harkless. Harkless can score as well, though she (like Houston) is sometimes content to expend most of her energy on defense if that is what benefits the team most. Both Houston and Harkless even can guard bigs, but the emergence of West Potomac junior power forward Lina Hashimi has made that less necessary. Hashimi is strong inside, and has good hands to receive passes near the rim.
The depth in the backcourt with junior Pietrina Copty, sophomore Skyler Strother, and sophomore Olivia Cicero, who will bury open threes if defenses help on Beddis, Houston, and company. There’s frontcourt depth as well. The Wolverines’ depth will allow Petrucelli to go big or small as needed, and his team will be a very, very tough out again this year.
It’ll be tough to break into the top three of this district, but there are candidates to do so. The Woodson Cavaliers have good program depth with a JV and Freshman team that won 28 games between them last season. Plus, experienced coach Le Towe gets a Second Team All-Patriot player back in senior forward Isabel Conklin. Conklin is a fantastic athlete, a good defender and a rebounder who can run the floor and uses excellent footwork to finish at the rim. 5’6″ senior guard Makayla Childs is another starter back from last year’s fourth place team. Childs is a fearless defender, unafraid to dive on the floor for loose balls.
It appears to us promising sophomore point guard Siena Ang will have the ball in her hands a lot this year. She’s a threat to break out this season. There are other young candidates to do so as well, and the Cavs will need a few of them to break out if they are to make a postseason run. Still, the floor is pretty high, because Woodson is well-coached, there’s depth, and the rebounding and team defense should be solid.
The West Springfield Spartans should be solid this season as well. Bill Gibson’s team lost five seniors, including a lot of low post frontcourt strength, but a good many talented players, especially in the backcourt, return. Lilia Mellor is a very solid 5’7″ guard who provides leadership and good perimeter defense, and is capable of distributing the ball or scoring off-ball as necessary. Junior guard Kaley Gibson is back too, and it is a good bet she will make an even bigger impact this season.
Senior guard Maya Williams is a smaller, high-energy guard who has traditionally sparked the Spartans off the bench. She’s outstanding in that role, but she’ll have to play more minutes this season, if not start. Junior Corrine James is also back after some spot starts last year. There’s plenty of depth in the backcourt.
Returning junior forward Hollin Horn will step right into the frontcourt after coming off the bench in the main rotation last year. She’s a strong player who can rebound and pass, and also bury the three-pointer. Her offensive contributions and especially her work on the boards will be key this season. If she gets in foul trouble, Gibson may be forced to go very small.
The Lake Braddock Bruins finished tied for last in the Patriot last year, but the Bruins should win more games in the district this season. Four starters are back in junior Pacey Magnuson and seniors Mackenzie Burger, three-point specialist Kaitlyn Lastra, and post Emma Cajchun. All of them are solid players, comfortable playing good team offense, defense, and crashing the boards.
Depth would have been a major problem beyond those four, because Coach Liz Reed didn’t employ a particularly deep rotation last year, but she does have a very good freshman class coming up. Guard Cara Scaman and forward Caroline Suddarth should step in and contribute immediately, plus junior guard Han Le also returns to further fortify the team.
The Alexandria City Titans have another new coach, Alexis “Lex” Peters. The Titans have been somewhat unable to maintain leadership in the program since Kesha Walton left for Ireton in 2018, but Peters certainly does seem like a good hire with her ample coaching and especially playing experience.
We were unsure of AC’s final roster at press time and we haven’t met Peters yet, but last year’s sixth-place squad did have significant young talent. Wing Gabrielle Barnes-Thomas impressed as a freshman, averaging in double figures against generally far older talent. She’s athletic and seems a hard worker, so there’s no reason to believe her ceiling isn’t high.
Guard Kori Dickerson is another Titans who was slated to return, as was fellow senior forward Jacari Jahi, who can mix it up inside. The Titans played a physical game last year, and seem like they have the personnel to do so again if Peters chooses.
We’ll be interested to check out Alexandria City early this year to get a better feel for what they’ll try to do this year.
That goes for the Fairfax Lions as well, who lost do-everything senior Anna Mawloud and a good many other key senior starters from last year’s squad. This year the Lions will be extremely young for Coach Tim Lucas with no seniors and five freshmen on the roster.
It would seem junior forward Madison Ward and guard Elise Nagler will have to step into bigger roles immediately for Fairfax, while the other young Lions will have to learn quickly if they want to win in the unforgiving Patriot.
–Chris Jollay
Late Note: Lilia Mellor and Kaley Gibson opted to not play basketball this year for the Spartans.