2022-2023 Patriot Regular Season Champion: Robinson
2022-2023 Patriot District Tournament Champion: Robinson
2023-2024 Novahoops.com Presumptive Favorite: Robinson
What’s New In 2023-2024: Experienced coaches Ariel Gonzalez (Alexandria City) and Rudy Coffield (South County) take over those respective programs.
The Robinson Rams have enjoyed excellent success of late under long-time coach TJ Dade. Last season the Rams won 26 games, the Patriot District and Occoquan Region tournaments, and advanced to the state semifinals before falling to Madison.
Similar success is possible this season, but the Patriot District contenders return a lot of firepower, and the Rams have to replace graduated starters Amelia Simonsen and Caroline Shimp. Both played big roles last year in the Rams’ success.
Dade thinks the Rams should be fine, though he wonders about the team’s depth compared to last year. First and foremost he has junior forward Georgia Simonsen back, a weapon any team would love to have. Simonsen remains an intriguing next level prospect, a dominating player in the paint both offensively and defensively. She’s also gotten way better at attacking the rim from the perimeter.
Still, while Simonsen has gotten even better since she burst on the scene a couple of years ago, Shimp was often the team’s second scoring option, and Amelia Simonsen often settled the team down to get it in its offense. The other returnees will have to step up further to supplement Georgia Simonsen, though they have the talent to do it.
Elizabeth Barry and McKenna Huff are both senior wings that figure to make their presence known even more this season. They’re effective in different ways, but both are three-and-D-type players that bring a lot of experience and aggressiveness to the table. So does sophomore Madison Coutinho, whose play at point guard becomes even more important with Amelia Simonsen gone. A very good defender, she got a lot of minutes as a freshman. She played hard and fast at all times–now she’s got to be able to effectively get the Rams into their offense.
Senior guard Nina Davis, sophomore wing Tiara Butler, junior guard Angeline Pham, and junior forward Jaymie Bevins, who Dade labels an “up-and-comer,” figure to get plenty of playing time. If everyone steps up in their roles, there is no reason Robinson can’t at least match last season’s success, though the margin for error will likely be slimmer.
Nipping right at Robinson’s heels will again be the West Potomac Wolverines. Last year the Wolverines only finished a game behind Robinson in the standings, even defeating the Rams once. The Wolverines lost do-everything point guard Mary Prater and power forward Julia Hopper, but return almost everybody else. They’re not a big team, but the Wolverines are absolutely loaded with talented guards.
Start with Olivia Jones, who will play even more point guard with Prater gone. She does everything pretty well and she’ll be a catalyst for her team on offense. While she can pace the team in transition and play defense, she also is a deadly three-point shooter. So is her fellow sophomore, shooting guard Abigail Beddis. Opponents cannot leave either open from the arc.
The other super sophomore is guard Dawn Houston. She’ll play a lot as well and can play point guard, too. Houston is a very able defender, to say the least. Also back is senior Cassady Dunn, another good defender, and junior Jill Humphreys, a Patriot District Honorable Mention selection a year ago. The wing can score, and also hit the boards hard.
That’s important, since as mentioned the Wolverines are not big. Still, freshman post Olivia Garey should be able to earn some playing time, and guard-forward Jayla Alford is a warrior who can defend bigs down low pretty well.
“We’re not big, but I’m not too worried,” West Po coach Brian Colligan says. “We have a lot of balance and good depth.”
Same goes for the W.T. Woodson Cavaliers. Woodson had mixed success last year, finishing fifth in the district. Coach Le Towe feels like the squad will be much more dangerous in her second year coaching the Cavs.
“These girls have been in the program, they’re used to my expectations now,” she says.
Woodson only lost four seniors off the roster and return an especially nice trio in starters Kelsie Chang, Sabina Neidrick, and Emma Komaily. Chang is a solid and experienced point guard and her fellow senior Neidrick is a shooter that can get hot in a hurry. Komaily has flashed star potential her first two years. The junior can score inside and out and was a second team all-region selection last season.
All three of them should be more consistent this season running Coach Towe’s offense. Towe is also excited about the other returnees, for instance junior shooting guard Annie Madison. Towe says Madison is becoming a vocal leader. Junior center Valli Swaminathan’s play will also be key, as like West Po, Woodson isn’t particularly big. Swaminathan came on toward the end of last year and we expect continued progress.
“I like this team a lot,” says Towe. “The girls are really close and have chemistry off the court. We’re not big, but I think we have average height for the district.”
The Lake Braddock Bruins aren’t that tall either, but they’re definitely another contender, and one of their tallest players, Sarah Pritz, is also super-physical. The fearless senior is strong on the drive and a force rebounding the basketball as well. A first team Occoquan Region selection, the Christopher Newport signee is a double-double machine capable of imposing the Bruins’ will on opponents.
Sophomore forward Emma Cajchun is another big who impressed last year, and those two should help to form a formidable Bruins frontline. Senior guard-forward Elena Small is also back–she’s a second team all-district selection that can defend and fill it up from three-point range. Junior forward Sophia Henry is a player coach Liz Reed is excited about–she gives the Bruins even more options in the frontcourt.
Returning senior guard Mackenzie Holliday is extremely important to the Bruins’ chances. She’s a good passer and defender that has to make sure she can get the ball to the appropriate pieces. Elizabeth So, Sydney Scott, and Sophia Arellano also return, and they need to continue to increase their production if the Bruins are to make a postseason run.
The Bruins can definitely make a run in the district and beyond. They finished third in the Patriot last year and flashed brilliance, especially when they rallied to come back and beat West Potomac after falling behind almost 30 points. They are well-coached and remain a dangerous foe that can beat just about anyone on a given night.
The Alexandria City Titans probably aren’t a contender in the district this season, but they might soon be again. Ariel Gonzalez, the new coach there, is excited about the potential in the Titans’ program. Gonzalez says about 90 girls came out for tryouts on all three levels of the program.
“We’re trying to build something new, a positive culture,” says Gonzalez, who started his coaching career over 20 years ago in the Alexandria recreation league. “Right now we’re just looking to get better start to finish…adjust to the speed of the game.”
There’s very little varsity experience this year, but students who didn’t play in previous years are returning to the program and there is solid young talent. An example is senior Alisha Jackson, a six-foot track athlete who decided to play basketball this season. She’ll be a force right away on defense as she learns the game.
Gonzalez says his team will rely heavily on players like senior Erianna Mayden, a shooter with good range, and junior Victoria Patrick, an athletic 2/3 who has a good mid-range game and can play defense. Allison Goetz is another player who should make an impact–she’s a good rebounder who might start at the four.
Gonzalez says his team will have to “win ugly” this year as the Titans gradually improve. Young players like 6’1″ freshman Victoria Parman will get every opportunity to earn minutes, and Gonzalez thinks his JV will be pretty solid and contribute fairly significantly next year.
“We have a strong young core with a strong eighth grade class on the way,” he says.
Of the rest of the teams, the West Springfield Spartans are probably the most dangerous. They won 15 games last year and only lost four seniors, though center Eva Robertson transferred to O’Connell.
Still, West Springfield is young. Junior Kalina Rapoza and sophomore Lilia Mellor have experience in tough games, but there are three other sophomores and four freshmen on the roster. So while the Spartans should be solid, there’s a definite learning curve here.
Also still young are the South County Stallions. SoCo finished at the bottom of the Patriot District last season, but did flash some exciting potential like when they defeated Woodson on the road by 21 points. The Stallions have some nice young talent and a new coach in former Hayfield head Rudy Coffield.
Youth and inexperience won’t be an excuse for the Fairfax Lions this year under Tim Lucas. The Lions went 6-18 a year ago, but 10 players are back from that roster and so significant improvement is expected.
That has to be one game at a time in this district, however, where there are no nights off.
–Chris Jollay