It’s hardly the time to be on the court without your starting point guard. But there were Langley and Chantilly – minus those key players – in a first-round, Region 6D girls game on Tuesday.
The Saxons were minus sophomore Madison Shamloo, missing her first game in two years due to a non-COVID illness. The Chargers were without senior Peyton Bibbee, who watched from the bench with her crutches after breaking her leg late in the regular season.
It was visiting Chantilly that mustered the necessary offensive firepower – hitting eight three-pointers en route to a 60-42 win.
The Chargers (13-12) will face Oakton in a regional semifinal on Thursday. It will be the fourth meeting of the season between the teams, Chantilly winning the first and the Cougars taking the next two, including Friday’s Concorde District final.
Chargers coach Josh Regan said the series against Oakton has come down to controlling the offensive glass, with the team able to do so also grabbing the wins.
Regan pointed out that the Chargers didn’t get out of the first round of the district tournament the past two years and yet after topping the Saxons, have advanced as far as his stronger teams from years prior.
“We’ve known we have a lot of talent, but being so young, we were inconsistent,” he said. “Because of our inexperience, teams were able to speed us up and take us out of what we were trying to do. But now, this team is embracing the pressure and having fun.”
On Tuesday, Chantilly delivered a decisive fourth quarter at both ends– led by point guard of the moment, sophomore Alivia Tarry, who matched backcourt mate Abigail Goodman with a game-high 15 points.
Tarry hit six consecutive free throws and scored eight points in the quarter.
Langley (21-4), the Liberty District regular season champions, got as close as 44-38 early in the fourth. Liberty District Player of the Year Anya Rahman mostly played point in Shamloo’s absence and finished with eight points.
“We tried to make adjustments and keep it positive,” Rahman said. “Chantilly started out hot and they were able to solve our double-teaming strategy.”
Breaking that pressure were Tarry and Goodman (three three-pointers).
“Abigail [Goodman] went crazy tonight,” Tarry said. Goodman had three of Chantilly’s six three-pointers in the first half.
Junior forward Emerson Mustard, too, had an impact. She scored seven of her 10 total points in the third quarter, helping the Chargers build a 10-point lead and controlling the boards.
–Paul Bergeron
@PaulBergeron3