When the Huntingtown High School girls basketball team welcomed visiting McDonough on Wednesday evening for the 2A South Region final, the host Hurricanes were hoping to join several of the school’s other programs by finally hanging a region championship banner on the gymnasium wall.
Huntingtown (15-9) had defeated McDonough (14-10) by double digits in each of their two league meetings this winter, but the Hurricanes found themselves in a much tougher contest on Wednesday. Following a frenetic first half in which there were nine lead changes, Huntingtown pulled away from the McDonough squad for a 56-47 victory, providing the program with its first ever region title.
“It means a lot to me to be part of this my senior year,” Samantha Yuen said. “Coach Lew [Payne] always keeps pushing us in practice. Tonight was a real battle, especially with two of our starters in foul trouble early. But our other players stepped up.”
Huntingtown’s primary post players, Eva Powell and Kelsie Bartlett, were not only in foul trouble early, both of them would eventually foul out in the fourth quarter. In their absence the weight of the scoring fell on the shoulders of two Huntingtown guards, Sofia Hoetzlein-sirman and Kayla Ripple, and both of them delivered.
During a first half in which there were nine lead changes, Ripple scored 13 points and connected on a pair of three-point field goals. She added another during a pivotal run in the second half and Hoetzlein-sirman drove to the bucket for several key baskets that enabled the Hurricanes to forge a double digit lead on several occasions during a second half in which they never trailed.
“It was really tough in the first half,” Hoetzlein-sirman said. “They did a good job taking away our two big girls inside, so Kayla hit some tough shots.”
“I felt pretty confident shooting tonight,” Ripple said. “They were focused on taking away the girls inside, so that left me open for some chances to score.”
McDonough got production from seniors Cailyn Samuel and Mikayla King and junior Lexi Garrison and the visiting Rams were still within striking distance until the Hurricanes embarked on a decisive 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter to forge a 54-42 lead. McDonough ended the drought at the free throw line, but the Rams went four minutes without a field goal at one stretch.
Last week the Hurricanes made quick work of visiting Westlake (6-13) in a 54-20 victory on a night when the hosts never trailed and led by a double digit margin for the final 35 minutes of playing time. With freshman Eva Powell dominating inside and junior Kayla Ripple connecting on several shots from the perimeter, the Hurricanes scored the game’s first 11 points, led 15-2 at the end of the first quarter and 31-4 at the intermission.
Westlake arrived with a very young squad that started three freshmen and brought only two seniors, Kayla Savoy and Akeylah McPherson. Despite the lopsided setback, Westlake first-year coach Russell Allen viewed the program’s with ample optimism.
“We were just such a young team this year,” said Allen, who had previously been the head girls basketball coach at Grace Christian Academy. “I think being here under the bright lights and on the big stage was a little much for them. But even though we were down big [31-4] at halftime, I thought the girls played with a lot of energy in the second half.”
Huntingtown was not the only SMAC team to garner a region title on Wednesday evening as North Point defeated Bowie 64-54 to claim the 4A East Region crown. However, one day after their male counterparts prevailed in the 3A South Region title game, the St. Charles girls basketball team saw its 2023-24 season come to an end on Wednesday when the Spartans suffered a 51-30 setback to Oxon Hill.
Both North Point and Huntingtown girls basketball teams will play March 9 in the state quarterfinals; their opponents had not yet been determined by press time Thursday.
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