QO Girls Win Against Watkins Mill

From tip-off to the final whistle, Quince Orchard's girls controlled the tempo against a mercurial Watkins Mill squad, outlasting the Wolverines 54-50 on Friday night.

Quince Orchard coach Collen Kelly attributed the win to defense as the Cougars held Watkins Mill star Jasmine McRoy—one of the county’s top scorers—in check for most of the game.

“Defense was definitely key; that’s something we’ve been trying to stress, and staying composed late in the game,” she said.

With McRoy ice-cold at the outset, senior Jartu Toweh pushed the action, scoring nine of Watkins Mill’s 11 first-quarter points in what started out as a back-and-forth game.

Quince Orchard’s Danielle Witherspoon turned it on in the second quarter as the Cougars built a 22-15 halftime margin, a lead they never relinquished.

Witherspoon finished with 17 points on the night, her fourth straight game scoring in double digits. Morgan Turner added 11 points, nine of them coming from behind the three-point line.

McRoy scored all of her 19 points in the second half, including a stretch of three-pointers as Watkins Mill tried to close the gap to no avail.

The win ended Quince Orchard’s six-game slide, moving their record to 4-9. Quince Orchard’s next game is Friday at Einstein.

Watkins Mill falls to 4-6. It’s been an up-and-down season for the Wolverins; opening with a 43-point loss at Whitman; won by 30 against Wilson and beat Clarksburg by 28 last week; have split a pair of overtime games.

Friday night's performance reminded Coach Ivan Hicks of his mantra of constant improvement, especially on the defensive side of the ball, beginning with the Wolverines game today against Poolesville.

“Tonight in my opinion we didn’t improve; I thought we took a step backwards,” he said. “Tomorrow is another day to improve and get better. If we win or lose it doesn’t matter; we have to improve in every practice and every game. But as a whole, based on the season, we’re getting there.

Quince Orchard

Danielle Witherspoon 17

Morgan Turner 11

Leah Dagen 10

Grace Toohey 5

Babette Sanmartin 3

Juanita Craig 2

Mimi Niktash 2

Ally Shapiro 2

Torrie Ziadie 2

Watkins Mill

Jasmine McRoy 19

Jartu Toweh 18

Janessa Fauntroy 5

Jewell Johnson 4

Josepha Mbouma 4