Girls basketball: Collegiate wins with youth
They’re young.
How young?
Let’s put it this way.
The composite age of Collegiate’s girls varsity basketball team is still too young to quality for a learner’s permit in Virginia.
That’s right.
With one 8th grader, six freshmen, one sophomore, one junior, and three seniors on his 12-player roster, Coach Kevin Coffey routinely sends his JV aged team with limited experience into the fray against varsity level competition.
Are the Cougars intimidated?
Hardly.
In fact, with their 32-23 victory over visiting Cape Henry Collegiate Saturday afternoon in the Albert L. “Petey” Jacobs Gymnasium, they improved their record to 4-4 and made a very clear statement about their inherent toughness, resilience, and grace under pressure.
“You have to understand what kind of team you have,” said Coffey. “My job is to make them comfortable on the floor and give them things they can execute without feeling overwhelmed so they can use what they know and compete.”
Compete, the Cougars did.
Using a 1-2-1-1 zone press which morphed into a newly installed 1-2-2 zone, they limited the Dolphins (3-2) to 7-for-43 shooting and forced 28 turnovers.
“The 1-2-2 puts more pressure up on the top of the key and makes it so they have to play an even-front offense,” said senior forward Janey Ferry, one of three returners with varsity experience. “That helped us control what we could control. We did a good job of protecting against their shooters outside as well as in the middle.
“We were trying to be really aggressive. We pressed them from the get-go because we knew they didn’t have many players and we wanted to get them tired right off the bat.”
Freshman Carmen Rivera hit a 3-pointer at 7:14 and 1-of-2 from the free throw line at 5:59 to put Cape Henry up 4-0 enroute to a 9-7 lead after one quarter.
At 7:19 of the second, Collegiate’s freshman point guard Mia Shrestra (five first-quarter points) hit the deck hard attempting to convert a transition layup.
Play resumed, but the two-year starter did not return to action, leaving senior guard Mackenzie Weiss, a three-year veteran, to assume her role of navigating the Dolphins’ pressure, running the offense, and steadying her teammates.
“It was one of those moments when I knew I needed to step up and lead the team,” Weiss said. “Staying calm was the main thing, especially with all the emotion during the game. I use my emotions to keep going and push me and support teammates instead of letting it get to me.”
After Shrestra’s injury, her teammates rallied to force seven turnovers and 1-for-10 shooting and went into the much-needed halftime break ahead 12-11.
“It was tough,” Coffey said. “They care about their teammate. That was the No. 1 thing.
“We held our own. We had a nice conversation (in the locker room). They were able to sit and relax and refocus and get themselves going.”
Weiss hit a layup at 6:41 and a floater from the lane at 5:04.
Freshmen Betsy Proutt and Delaney Settar followed with 3-pointers over the Dolphins’ 2-3 zone, Weiss hit one-of-two from the line, and freshman Rose Blackburn scored from the paint off a Proutt assist to complete an 13-4 third quarter and send the Cougars into the fourth up 25-15.
During that stretch, the Cougars’ defensive effort forced 1-for-12 shooting and eight turnovers.
“We came out, and our mindset changed,” Coffey said. “We got some turnovers, sped the tempo up a little bit, and got some steals which gave us some opportunities to put the ball in the bucket.”
Though shorthanded, Cape Henry refused to capitulate and continued to apply the scrappy defensive pressure that by game’s end forced Collegiate into 11-for-37 shooting and 24 turnovers.
Three-pointers by Camille Rivera (11 points) and Carmen Rivera (12 points) facilitated a comeback that enabled the Dolphins to close to 27-23 at 1:33.
Duly inspired, the Cougars stood fast.
Proutt scored from the paint off Ferry’s entry pass at 1:03, Settar hit 1-of-2 from the line at 0:54, and Weiss (nine points, six steals) calmly sank two free throws at 0:26 to seal the deal.
“We were all fired up,” Weiss said. “We really wanted to win for Mia. That’s what really pushed us.”
