Walter Johnson Head Coach Chris Donlon preaches free throws ultimately win and lose games. On Friday night, as the girl’s basketball team hosted the Walt Whitman Vikings, his words rung true as the second half of their divisional tilt featured more than 20 fouls between the two teams, with the Wildcats making it to the line for 18 shots. They hit 10 of their free throws, with sophomore Norah Youssef sinking four in the final quarter to stave off a late comeback bid from the Vikings, winning 46-42.
To open the game, the Vikings rang up a quick seven points as senior Faith Gardner-Johnson hit the first shot of the game and senior Andrea Ellers-Ruiz powered through for two shots down low and sinking the games first free throw after being fouled while making the bucket. A timeout from Donlon and some recollection from his starting unit appeared to calm them down, facing a 7-0 deficit.
“I just wanted to settle down,” Donlon said. “Sometimes we get a little freaked out or a little over-hyped sometimes going into big games, but once we settled down and hit our groove, a couple shots went in.”
The zone defense from the Vikings began to get outpaced as passing and ball movement fractured the 3-2 zone, and shots began to fall. At the halfway point of the quarter, senior Eliana Nastase scored the first two points for the Wildcats. Then, a three-point barrage erupted for the Wildcats. Youssef hit from three. A possession later, sophomore Elizabeth Martin hit one from deep. Nine seconds afterward, senior Kate Kreisle hit the third consecutive three point shot to give them their first lead, 11-10.
“They were giving us the three a little bit,” Donlon said. “We had some motion offense that we were able to hit and execute and the threes were there. They went in and obviously it sparks the whole team. Everyone, they all stepped up when we needed it and [made some] big shots in big moments.”
Ending the momentum swing for the Wildcats was sophomore Eva Leonhardt of the Vikings, who knocked down the three-ball.
The second quarter was a reminder that both teams are defense first. The two combined for 16 total points in the second eight minutes. Seven of them were from a mid-game explosion from Martin, who knocked down back-to-back three-point shots 30 seconds apart and making it to the line and hitting one of her two free throws.
“I was really fueled once I made [the first one],” Martin said. “I got a big cheer and everything and then I knew I could make the others to help us win.”
“Huge performance by Martin tonight,” Donlon said. “We need her to be successful if we want to be successful. She’s our best defender. She guards their best player every single night. Sometimes she doesn’t get that recognition. But tonight, she really stepped up and she deserves all the credit in the world.”
Both teams were pestering ball-handlers, suffocating passing lanes and securing defensive rebounds to disallow any follow-up shots. As the first half ended, the Wildcats went into their locker room with a five-point lead.
The third quarter continued the tough defensive bout, with only one point coming from a free throw by Eller-Ruiz. More than two minutes ticked past before Wildcat freshman Mira Mann hit a pump-fake step-back three point shot that shook Viking defender wayward. Back-and-forth exchanges continued with Ellers-Ruiz hitting a fading hook-shot in the paint to put her into double figures. The lead dwindled to three points. Then, No. 3 of the Wildcats, junior Kendall Alexander, found her stride.
She knocked down two free throws. Then another two free throws. She pickpocketed the ball from a defender for the breakaway layup. Another steal saw a two-on-one fast break that she dimed with a chest pass to Martin for the mid-range shot.
“She plays so aggressive,” Martin said of Alexander. “She really dominates. She can hit shots, she can drive, she can do everything. She also plays really hard on defense, getting a lot of steals. She plays really aggressive so it really helps us and fuels us and hypes us.”
With seconds dwindling, the Wildcats held a seven-point lead before the final frame. Then, a buzzer-beating three-ball from Vikings sophomore Kathryn Marquardt sliced it to four.
More of the Walter Johnson home crowd filtered into the gymnasium for the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats led, 35-31. With the crowd cheering, revitalized energy brought the home team surging to a 10-point lead, with Youssef hitting six.
For six minutes, they held the Vikings to one point, a free throw from sophomore Kaylah Tchoufa.
“When we started to really work with each other and communicate and talk with each other and take those timeouts, we can get it done,” Youssef said. “We’re going to put in the work and get it done.”
With 1:26 left on the clock, though, the Vikings broke the defensive dam. Tchoufa scored five more points. Junior Olivia Hansel scored two. An eight-point run rattled off by the Vikings as the Wildcats only found one point, with Martin missing both free throws.
“It gets exhausting,” Youssef said. “It’s the fourth quarter and you think the game is coming to an end and you look up on the clock and there’s still minutes left. Whitman is a very good fundamental team.”
With under a minute to go, the Wildcats were on their heels. Donlon shouting orders and instruction for his unit and timeouts exchanged from both sides as the time was on neither side. One team facing a dwindling clock and down. The other up, but too much time left for a coasting win.
Donlon put the ball in the hands of his two best threats, having Alexander and Youssef keep passing the ball to one another and bring it up the court. And when fouls were the only way to keep the clock stopped, both went 50%, giving them a four-point lead. A missed shot from the Vikings hit the rim and bounced out as time expired, and the Wildcats’ revenge for their loss at Whitman was avenged, 46-42.
“You see how much they work and how hard they work and how they want to win,” Donlon said of his team. “How frustrated they can get sometimes. You see that. It makes it all worth it.”
Upcoming Games:
Walter Johnson vs. Quince orchard (6 p.m. Feb. 13), @ Winston Churchill (5:30 p.m. Feb. 16), @ Seneca Valley (6 p.m., Feb. 20)
Walt Whitman @ Wootton (5:30 p.m. Feb. 13), vs. Bethesda-Chevy Chase (5:30 p.m. Feb. 16), @ Damascus (6 p.m. Feb. 20)