Sports

Watkins Mill Hoopsters are on a Roll

Divisional showdowns loom for boys' and girls' basketball.

Miscues and close calls have cluttered this season’s starts for Watkins Mill boys’ and girls’ basketball. But after home wins over Wheaton, both squads are riding a four-win streak into crucial stretches against their divisions' top teams.

The Lady Rines' romp over the winless Knights on Friday night gives Coach Ivan Hicks’s inexperienced squad a much-needed boost of confidence.

In the boys’ match-up, three quarters of stymied shooting erupted into a fourth-quarter free-for-all that saw the Wolverines rally to a late lead, squander that lead from the free-throw line, then recover in overtime for the win. 

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Lady Rines senior Josepha Mbouma—one of only two players back from last year’s 15-10 squad that reached the 3A West semifinal—paced Watkins Mill at the outset on Friday night, scoring 10 first-quarter points as they scrapped to a 12-9 lead. The second quarter saw 8 points from freshman Dominique Walker as Watkins Mill built a 27-12 halftime lead, then cruised to a 49-25 final.

The 24-point win moves the Lady ‘Rines record to 6-6 on the strength of four straight wins by an average of more than 16 points. The streak has come against teams at the bottom of the Montgomery 3A division: Einstein, Rockville, Northwood and Wheaton have combined for six wins and 38 losses.

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Hicks was pleased with Friday night’s effort but wants to see sharper execution. Their next three opponents—Seneca Valley (Friday night), Poolesville (Jan. 24) and Damascus (Jan. 27)—have amassed twice as many wins as losses, including wins over the Lady Rines earlier this season.

“Based on how we win, we played OK,” Hicks said. “We can definitely improve and work hard in practice. It’s midseason, and if we continue to improve, we should be OK by playoffs.”

Part Two of Friday’s doubleheader built to a fourth-quarter frenzy and ended with a 65-52 Watkins Mill win in overtime.

With 70 three-pointers in their first 11 games, the Wolverines are among the county’s most prolific teams from behind the arc. During Friday night’s 32-minute regulation, they had made a season low of two—Torez Rhea’s three gave Watkins Mill its first points of the night, followed by Alex Sotomayor’s make that closed out scoring in the third quarter.

Wheaton, meanwhile, penetrated past the Wolverines’ perimeter defense with relative ease, and Watkins Mill headed into the locker room frustrated by a 25-25 tie.

The third quarter proved even more futile. Watkins Mill managed a mere 8 points; Wheaton built a lead that peaked at 42-35 with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines stormed back, keyed by a flurry of offensive rebounds, loose balls and forced turnovers that finally gave Watkins Mill its first lead of the second half at 45-44 with 2:30 to play.

The next two minutes saw four more lead changes, capped off by Tyvon Grant’s step-back jumper to put Watkins Mill ahead 49-48 with 31 seconds left.

From there, Watkins Mill was unable to close the game out at the free throw line, much as they did in two of their early season losses. Grant missed the front end of a one-and-one with 10.3 seconds on the clock. After the rebound caromed off a Wheaton player, Jeff Adarkwa was fouled on the ensuing in-bounds play. He made the first free throw but missed the second.

Wheaton’s Lloyd Ferguson took advantage by knocking down a pair from the line to tie the score at 50 with 3.5 seconds to play.

On Watkins Mill’s first possession of overtime, Grant found himself near the top of the key—room to get off a shot but plenty of reason to second-guess himself. Three of his earlier tries from behind the arc had rattled in and out, another skidded off side iron, another missed the rim completely, and he had missed the crucial free throw moments earlier.

But with ball in hand and the chance to seize control of the game, he didn’t hesitate. “I don’t want to lose, that’s all it was,” Grant recalled afterward. “I just want to win this game.”

In a flash, the 5’8” guard raised up and fired from 22 feet out, watching as the shot splashed into the bottom of the net.

Then it was Adarkwa’s turn to redeem an uncharacteristically errant night of shooting. The 6’3” senior had drained 10 triples in his previous three games, but had missed all three of his tries on Friday night. In the overtime, he botched an uncontested fast break that would have given Watkins Mill a five-point lead.

One possession later, he spotted up on the left wing, and with the home crowd a few feet behind him, made good on his fourth try of the night.

After a Le’nard Wilson steal, Grant knocked down a pair of free throws to push Watkins Mill’s lead to 8 with 1:31 left. Wheaton was forced to foul the rest of the way, and Watkins Mill made 7 of 10 free throws to outscore the Knights 15-2 in overtime.

“It seems like every night in this division, the teams are evenly matched. It’s blow for blow, and at least now, we’re finishing games,” said Coach Jay Tringone. “I’m not thrilled about the fact we didn’t finish the game in regulation. But we are becoming tough and getting over our mistakes and the ups and downs of the game and putting it behind us. It’s progress in the right direction. We’re moving things in the right way.”

‘Rines on the Rise

—three of which came by a total of five points—the Wolverines are starting to show their mettle.

Friday’s win was their second straight in overtime and their fifth straight over a 3A opponent, a streak that has put Watkins Mill in position to take a share of the division lead by beating Seneca Valley on Friday night.

The Wolverines have turned their season around by quietly putting up offensive numbers that best their seven division foes and rank alongside the top teams in MCPS.

Averaging 16.1 points per game, Tyvon Grant leads the 3A in scoring and is sixth-best in MCPS, behind Sherwood’s Scott Bolen (23.5 ppg), Kennedy’s Marcus Murray (19.3), B-CC’s Ghedalia Gold-Pastor (18.9), RM’s Justin Senou (18.8) and Magruder’s Nick Griffin (16.7).

Watkins Mill balances their scoring with Adarkwa (10.8 ppg), Sotomayor (10.3 ppg) and senior guard Le’nard Wilson (8.4). Of Montgomery County’s two dozen other teams, only five (Magruder, Springbrook, Blair, Damascus and Walter Johnson) have three players who average 10 or more points per game. Of those, only Magruder and Springbrook score more than Watkins Mill’s trio.

And the 64 three-pointers by Grant (28), Adarkwa (19) and Sotomayor (17) are trumped only by the 81 from Magruder’s top three marksmen.

Watkins Mill’s bugaboo: the free throw line. The Wolverines are barely shooting 60 percent on the season and blew chances to put the game out of reach in consecutive and Poolesville. Their 22-for-30 performance from the line against Wheaton masked a 3-for-7 fourth quarter.

And with only two players in the rotation standing 6’3” and one 6’4”, the Wolverines lack a bona fide presence down low.

The squad Seneca Valley will bring Friday night boasts four players taller than 6’4” complemented by a backcourt tandem of Robbie Lim (6’3”) and Jerry McFadden (6’), who together average 27 points per game and have made 39 three-pointers.

With so much size across Seneca’s roster, Tringone will be pushing the Wolverines to focus on their half-court defense and running an offense that does more than rely on the jump shot.

The Screaming Eagles (7-6) have won seven of their last nine games and stand atop the 3A with a 6-1 record in the division—one game ahead of Watkins Mill.

Also at stake for the Wolverines on Friday night: the chance to avenge their 48-47 loss to Seneca Valley on Dec. 16, when the Screaming Eagles mustered the game-winning basket on a wild scrum after a missed free throw with 1 second left.

“The way we lost, we [were] mad in practice that next day and everybody worked hard,” Grant said Friday night. “So I know we’re going to be hungry for this win. Friday is going to be a good game.”

 

SCORING SUMMARY 

GIRLS – Watkins Mill 49, Wheaton 25

Watkins Mill

  • Dominique Walker 16 points
  • Josepha Mbouma 14
  • Jewell Johnson 6
  • Danielle Durjan 6
  • Angel Hall 3
  • Charmaine Nganje 2
  • Alexis Buie 2

Wheaton

  • Rakeb Teklu 10 points
  • Danielle McKenzie 5
  • Brittany Griffiths 4
  • Monee Beverly 4
  • Dorothy Ellis 2

 

BOYS - Watkins Mill 65, Wheaton 52 (OT)

Watkins Mill

  • Tyvon Grant 24 points
  • Le’nard Wilson 14
  • Jeff Adarkwa 10
  • Torez Rhea 9
  • Alex Sotomayor 7
  • Daryl Brown 1

Wheaton

  • Jalen Hawkins 15 points
  • Shakir Metellus 9
  • Langston Payne 9
  • Ibrahim Kallon 7
  • Lloyd Ferguson 7
  • Travaris Rogers 3
  • Ayinde Warren 2


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