QO Girls Edge Out Watkins Mill

Tied three times in the waning minutes Thursday night, the Quince Orchard Cougars controlled the glass and got big games from Danielle Witherspoon and Grace Toohey to outlast Watkins Mill

The Wolverines looked like they might put the game away early. Down 20-16 in the second quarter, Watkins Mill went on a 12-0 run, thanks in large part to senior guard/forward Jasmine McRoy’s 9 points in the period.

But just when Watkins Mill was ready to go into halftime comfortably ahead, junior guard Grace Toohey helped steady Quince Orchard’s ship with a pair of threes in the final minute, closing the Wolverines’ lead to 30-26 at the break.

The Cougars’ hot shooting spilled over in the third quarter, especially from Danielle Witherspoon, who scored half of Quince Orchard’s 16 points in the period.

“We allowed their shooters open looks and they nailed them almost every single time,” said Watkins Mill coach Ivan Hicks. “We didn’t rebound the latter part of the game. We gave them second, third and sometimes four opportunities to score. When you do that, it hurts your team.”

The Wolverines clawed back in the 4th quarter, sparked by several crowd-rousing blocks and full-court transition baskets, to tie the game at 45 and 47.

Tied again at 49 with less than two minutes left to play, Witherspoon grabbed another of the Cougars’ many offensive rebounds and calmly banked in a contested putback. After a Watkins Mill miss and intentional foul, Toohey rattled in a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

McRoy finished as the game’s high scorer with 20 points. Jartu Toweh added 14 and Josepha Mbouma had 13 for the Wolverines. Jewell Johnson rounded out the scoring with 2 points.

Toohey led the Cougars with 17 points — nearly tripling her previous season high — including three from behind the arc.

“She’s been improving every day and really knows how to run the plays, knows how to get open, knows when to take shots, good shots, smart shots,” said Quince Orchard coach Colleen Kelly. “She really stepped up for us tonight.”

Witherspoon ended up with 16 points. Mollie Murtaugh had 8; Babette Sanmartin, 7; Morgan Turner, 3; and Torrie Ziadie 2.

The loss drops Watkins Mill to 8-8 on the season. They host Clarksburg — whom they beat 64-36 last month — at 5:15 p.m. Monday.

“We’re going to try work on being more consistent, and it starts at practice,” Hicks said. “I’ve told them we have five, six games left. We have to work, and come to practice to work. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

Quince Orchard moves to 7-10 and have won three of their last four heading into Monday’s game at Poolesville.

“We’re looking forward to a little bit of time off—three games this week was rough—getting healthy and continuing to do the things that we need to do,” Kelly said. “We’ve had a few wins in the last few games, which is good, so keep that momentum going.”