Everyone knows the postseason is a whole new season. Anything can happen, especially in the Concorde, one of the area’s most competitive girls districts top to bottom. Monday night at South Lakes exemplified this, with a first half of basketball that saw gritty defense and a low halftime score in favor of the lower seed.
But despite trailing at halftime, the third-seeded Seahawks soon righted their ship, overwhelming the sixth-seeded Chargers by a final score of 41-22.
The hosts won both regular season matchups comfortably, and got off to a good start thanks to a full court press that stymied the Chargers on offense to begin. The Seahawks began a little sluggish on offense as well, and only found themselves up 8-6 after one.
“They (Chantilly) did a great job defensively. They were closing out on our shooters so we were having difficulty finishing up easy shots.” said South Lakes Head Coach Rob Robinson. “Those girls play extremely hard, a young team, they are going to play from clock-to clock.”
The Chargers starting lineup only sported one senior, the rest being sophomores and freshmen, though you couldn’t always tell from the way they took care of the ball and found points in the paint in the first half. Their defensive intensity continued into the second quarter, and held the Seahawks to only one basket from Idinah Williams-Bafoe. The Chargers hung around in the second as the lead changed four times, and led by three at halftime, 13-10.
After the intermission, South Lakes rallied around senior forward Jess Dornak (16 points, 10 rebounds, one steal), their first team All-District selection. Working around Chantilly’s double teams, Dornak notched eight points in the quarter to help the Seahawks open up a double-digit lead.
“In the second half we were able to slow ourselves down and really bring the game to us,” said Robinson.
The full court press also started to get the better of Chantilly, as Seahawk guards Bridget Brennan (nine points, five rebounds, one steal) and Mia Branch (two points, two rebounds, two steals), got to work and limited the Chargers to just one field goal in the period.
In the fourth, the Seahawks kept their foot on the gas and were able to shut down Chantilly’s starters. They displayed another “gear” that, Coach Robinson said, is something he hadn’t seen from his team before last night.
“You never get to know your team all the way. I know that we have extra gear. I learned that tonight, especially defensively. I know that when we commit defensively, we’re one of the best teams in the conference and around here in the region. So if we commit defensively I think we’ll be alright. I’ll continue to learn as a coach, and continue to teach the players. It’s a growing process.”
Chantilly had a balanced attack, and saw many promising moments from its underclassmen both last night and all through their season. Sophomore Emerson Mustard (six points, six rebounds) was all over the court and held her own against the Seahawk posts. The Chargers’ freshman point guard Alivia Tarry played solid, notching three points, three boards, two assists and two steals. For next season, this guard-post combo could be a problem in the Concorde.
South Lakes will travel to Centreville on Wednesday for a district semifinal matchup.
–Max Nagle
@MaxWritesHoops