Richard A. Lipski/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST - West Springfield's April Robinson goes up for a shot in last year’s Virginia AAA quarterfinals. Robinson missed part of this season with an ankle injury but has returned to spark the Spartans.
For more than a month, fifth-ranked West Springfield had to adjust to life without All-Met point guard April Robinson.
The Duquesne recruit was out with an ankle injury. In her absence, the Spartans rotated a number of players into that point guard role, hoping to keep the offense flowing despite missing one of their most talented players.
Wings Jordan Miller, a senior, and Amy Berglund, a sophomore who missed the first seven games of the season with a knee injury, stepped in to run the offense. Inside, Georgetown-bound senior forward Logan Battle (18.6 points per game) took on a larger offensive responsibility.
Unsurprisingly, since Robinson returned Jan. 20 in a win over Lake Braddock, West Springfield has seen a spark in its offense, even as the senior works to get back into game shape.
“Practices are getting better,” Battle said. “We’re all starting to work together better. We distribute well right now. When April was out and Amy was out, a lot was put on me and Jordan. We were struggling with that. Having everybody back, we’re working harder on trying to distribute the ball and all that stuff its going good for us.”
The Spartans, whose only two losses came over the holiday break at a tournament in Florida, held off an upset bid by T.C. Williams in a 40-37 win on Jan. 30. It was their second narrow win over the Titans, the team they beat in the Northern Region championship last season. The Spartans won 49-48 on Jan. 6.
Spartans Coach Bill Gibson said he thought the team was starting to come together now that all of its pieces were in place. The key, he said, was getting everyone in shape and ready to peak for the region tournament.
“It’s just getting the team to play together,” Gibson said. “We’re not playing as well as we were last year right now. We haven’t played that well all year. We’ve had spurts of it, but not a whole game. There are times in a season when your best ball has been played; well our best ball hasn’t been played yet. We know what we can be. Hopefully the next couple weeks we get things together.”
Battlefield shooting for first region tournament berth
Battlefield, which plays in the Virginia AAA Cedar Run District tournament this week, could be poised to earn its first Northwest Region postseason berth since the school opened in 2004.
The Bobcats finished second to Stonewall Jackson during the regular season, and both teams have earned first-round district tournament byes. If Battlefield on Wednesday in the semifinals beats the winner of Tuesday’s game between Freedom-South Riding and Patriot, the Bobcats will crack the regional field.
With a loss Wednesday, Battlefield would have to win a consolation game Friday to qualify for regionals. For the first time, the four districts in the Northwest Region will each send three teams to regionals instead of two.
A berth would be a nice reward after a challenging season. Bobcats Coach Eric McCaslin this season brought in assistant coaches Chrissy Kelly and Ashleigh Braxton. Kelly coached Forest Park to two state titles and later was head coach at South County. Braxton played for Kelly’s state championship teams. McCaslin was a Forest Park assistant before taking the Battlefield job.
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