One great thing about basketball is every new week brings a chance for teams to erase history–to improve, and play the type of basketball their coach believes they are capable of playing. Park View demonstrated that principle Wednesday night.
Last Friday Loudoun County hosted Park View and overwhelmed the Patriots, 57-29. On this evening at Park View, things were markedly different as the Patriots played a far better game, prevailing 43-34.
“We realized what they were gonna do…we handled their press better,” said Park View Coach Alyssa Mayrose. “We played our game better.”
That they did. At halftime Park View (1-5, 8-10) led 14-13, buoyed by solid zone defense and senior Anna Helstrom’s seven first half points. The 14 points had Park View on pace for only 28, however, less than last week’s output. It was fair to wonder at that point if that would be enough.
In the third quarter, the Park View offense came alive, sparked by the play of junior guard Kyra Hurley. Hurley didn’t score in the first half, but poured in eight points in the third quarter as her team outscored Loudoun 15-8.
“When she’s on, she’s on,” said Mayrose of Hurley, who finished with 13 points. “Tonight she hit the outside shot, she got to the rim a bunch of times, she was aggressive, and she just played hard. She controlled the game for us.”
Loudoun County (2-4, 3-15) pulled to within four points at 34-30, but the whole Park View team responded. Helstrom and Hurley continued to handle the ball effectively and attack the rim. Seniors Murphy Cooper and Priscilla Gutierrez each hit a pair of free throws, junior Carly Earnhart (eight points, 13 rebounds) controlled the boards, and sophomore Abby Mirra came up clutch off the bench.
“We shared the ball today,” Mayrose said. “There were multiple people involved. Abby with a clutch drive in the fourth quarter, all the way to the rim. We’re looking for things like that from other players. Getting everybody involved is I think what gets us over the hump the next couple games.”
Helstrom’s 14 points led the way for Park View, which held Loudoun to 27% field goal shooting on the night. Loudoun was led by junior Esther Paul, who had 12 points.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| PARK VIEW | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| GUTIERREZ | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| HURLEY | 5-11 | 1-2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | |
| COOPER | 0-5 | 2-2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| HELSTROM | 4-13 | 6-9 | 14 | 8 | 2 | |
| EARNHART | 2-10 | 4-6 | 8 | 13 | 1 | |
| De La Cruz Maria | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Mirra | 2-3 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 13-42 | 15-21 | 43 | 31 | 4 | |
| Threes: Hurley 2-5, Earnhart 0-1, Cooper 0-2, Helstrom 0-2 | ||||||
| LOUDOUN COUNTY | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| MANNI | 4-5 | 0-0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |
| PAUL | 4-12 | 4-8 | 12 | 3 | 1 | |
| WARD | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | |
| ASSIAMAH-DAMTI | 2-9 | 0-0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| BOYERS | 1-10 | 1-2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | |
| Chinn | 1-1 | 2-2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| Mallow | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| Klerekoper | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Davis | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lavery | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eastlake | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 13-48 | 7-14 | 34 | 29 | 10 | |
| Threes: Chinn 1-1, Ward 0-1, Klerekoper 0-1, Lavery 0-2, Boyers 0-4, Paul 0-6 | ||||||