Tourney Rematches Give Seneca Valley Sweet Redemption

By Alan Goldenbach and Jeff Nelson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 8, 2009

After losing to Northwest by three points Dec. 9 and to Quince Orchard by one Dec. 16, the Seneca Valley girls' coaches and players were left with the feeling that they should have won and the desire for a rematch.

The Screaming Eagles got that chance in the Sugarloaf Shootout at Poolesville, and they took full advantage.

Seneca Valley won the four-team event at the end of last month by prevailing in another close game with Northwest, 60-57, and soundly beating Quince Orchard, 54-44.

"You don't often get an opportunity to play two 4A foes [again] when you're 3A," Screaming Eagles Coach Todd Bumgardner said. "It's a satisfying feeling."

Seneca Valley left the tournament with a 6-2 record, giving the team as many wins as last season, when they finished 6-16.

Seneca Valley is accomplishing its turnaround without seniors. The Screaming Eagles have five freshmen and six juniors, including the formidable backcourt of Kelsey Wolfe (19 points a game) and Audrey Cunningham (16.7).

They also added Holy Cross transfer Kiana Murphy (8.5 points a game ), a 6-1 center who gives the team a post presence it didn't have before.

"It's easier to get shots [for the guards] because they have to pay attention to the post now," Wolfe said. . . .

Defending 3A champion Paint Branch had its 31-game winning streak snapped with a pair of losses at the Lady Blazer Classic in New York over the holiday break. But as is often the case when teams travel to face elite competition, the experience proved more important than the results.

"There's a difference in New York basketball compared with Maryland basketball," said Panthers Coach Heather Podosek, after her team lost to South Shore (N.Y.), 68-63, and to Murry Bergtraum, 84-62. "They're strong, they're fast, they've got handles, there's a lot of street-ball type game. They're very, very physical, and that was a really good learning experience for us. We had to battle."

In the Panthers' own league, that probably won't be the case.

Before leaving for New York, Paint Branch played what many consider their top competition in the Montgomery 3A/2A/1A East, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, which entered the game 5-0.

The Barons attempted to press the fifth-ranked Panthers and run with them, but Paint Branch shot 62 percent from the field, used all 13 of its players, including subs for the final quarter, and won, 111-56. Podosek said it was the first time the Panthers reached triple digits since 1999.

"We just played well as a team that night," said senior guard Tarik Hislop, who had 25 points. "If we continue playing like that, we should be able to beat most of the teams in our league by a good amount."

Senior forward Khalilah Quigley led the Panthers with 27 points, and sophomore guard Brene Moseley added 20. In Paint Branch's first six area games, the trio of Hislop, Quigley and Moseley combined to average nearly 60 points a game.

Turnaround at Rockville

Even after Monday's humbling 57-31 loss at Poolesville, Rockville's boys' basketball team could look at the start of this season as nothing short of successful.

Coming off a 1-22 season a year ago, the Rams have won their first four games and six of their first seven. If they keep it up, it would be a remarkable turnaround for a program that has not had a winning season since going 12-10 in 2000-01 and has won more than six games in a season once since then.

"We've got to learn how to be winners," second-year Rockville Coach G.J. Kissal said. "Just because you win a couple of games doesn't mean we'd keep winning. You know how some teams have a fear of failure? We have a fear of success. We failed 22 times last year. We know how to do that.

"But they definitely feel better than they did last year. They lost here for so long that it's deeply ingrained."

The Rams are built to sustain the success. Leading the way is 6-foot-6 sophomore DeAndre Kelly, averaging 12.6 points per game. The backcourt is manned by a pair of juniors who are starting for the second year, Ben Kane, the team's smartest player, and Wayne Jackson, its best defender. Kissal said the continuity of the group from having played together for more than one season will help, but he wants the team to discover the swagger that comes with winning and that can carry over from game to game.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Kissal said. "I want to figure out what it is and how to capture it in a bottle." . . .

For the first time in a while, Paint Branch boys' coach Walter Hardy has size on his roster. The problem was, for the first couple of weeks of the season, the Panthers didn't know how to use it. They allowed their first three opponents at least 68 points apiece and lost two of those games.

Since then, Paint Branch has used its size to deny opponents, and it's proving decisive. No opponent has reached 60 points in the past six games, and Paint Branch has won all six by double figures.

The Panthers tout five players at least 6 feet 5, including 6-6 seniors Ed Hall and Cody Burns, who are averaging more than 15 and 11 points per game, respectively. The difference for the Panthers is having tall players around the perimeter, in addition to the low post, which makes it difficult for opposing offenses to find a rhythm. Six-foot-three junior Devin Gallman is a presence there.

Despite the big bodies, 6-foot Stephen Griffin continues to make the Panthers go. The senior point guard is leading the team in scoring for the second straight season, and the bigger bodies down low are helping pull opposing defenses away and allowing him more room on the perimeter.