D.C. Basketball Notebook
Woodson Makes Plans For Staying on Top
Woodson's Alyssia Stewart blocks a shot by Good Counsel's Kim Tullis during the City Title Game on Monday.
(By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
After observers absorbed H.D. Woodson's convincing 61-43 victory over Good Counsel on Monday in the girls' City Title Game, their attention turned quickly to next season.
And the game's most valuable player was ready for that.
"We want to do it again," said Woodson junior Ronika Ransford, who scored 19 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. "We'll be ready."
Fifth-ranked Woodson became the first D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association school to win consecutive City Title games, and the Warriors did that with a four-player core of Ransford, fellow guards Bernisha Pinkett and Carleeda Green and center Jeniece Johnson.
All but Ransford graduate this year, meaning that not only will there be much talent to replace, but also that the Warriors will be short on game experience, even though the rest of the team is expected to return. Talented role players Shanice Parker, Jephany Brown and Alyssia Stewart will be asked to play more minutes and shoulder greater responsibilities.
Still, Woodson might already have answered one of its biggest questions heading into next season. What distinguished the Warriors from so many other teams the past two seasons was not necessarily its outstanding guard play, but rather that unit working in conjunction with the 6-foot-6 Johnson, who was impossible for most opponents to guard. In fact, after her sixth uncontested first-half layup, Good Counsel Coach Tom Splaine turned to his assistants and said, "Not much you could do about that."
The funny thing was, Johnson's absence for the first 16 games of this season prepared the Warriors for when she went to the bench early in the third quarter with foul trouble against Good Counsel. There's no reason to think Woodson can't be similarly ready at the start of next season.
"We played without J.J. for our first 16 games," Woodson Coach Frank Oliver said. "We've been here before."
Woodson's full-court pressure is so overwhelming, that as long as this year's role players can execute that plan effectively, there's no reason to think the Warriors can't have at least a similarly capable backcourt next season.
And leading that backcourt will be the same person who did so Monday night. Oliver said he pulled Ransford aside when Johnson got into foul trouble in the third quarter and gave her a simple directive.
"I told her, 'You definitely have to take over,' "he said. "It's your time.' "
Ballou: Wait Till Next Year
There is plenty of time, as well, for Ballou's boys' basketball team. Even though frowns and slumped shoulders marked the Knights' bench as they received their runner-up trophies after their 55-48 loss to third-ranked DeMatha in the boys' City Title game, there is a strong possibility Ballou can return to that stage next season.
