Relief and exhaustion rapidly washed away from the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons’ bench as the final moments ticked away on the scoreboard at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville.
What once was a 17-point deficit had become a five-point lead, and as the buzzer rang, Barons Head Coach Ryan Ingalls leapt for joy accompanied by her roster as they celebrated their first Montgomery County championship win, defeating the Clarksburg High Coyotes, 59-54.
“To come back like against this … this is special,” Ingalls said. “I’m just so proud.”
The comeback bid began in second half, after the Coyotes scored 24 points in the second quarter. Sisters London, Trinity and Destiny Turner, Clarksburg’s stars, hit double figures, and scored 21 of the team’s 24 in the quarter. For the Barons, junior forward Frances Doyle kept them in the game, scoring eight in the second, with six coming from the free throw line.
“She’s one of our key players,” Ingalls said. “We need her to score. We need her energy to win and she brought it. She was all over the rebound[s]. Rebounding was huge and we knew that was going to be a big key.”
Doyle finished second in scoring on the night, behind senior guard Anna Tercyak (17), who scored seven in the fourth quarter in the comeback.
The second half saw defensive adjustments from the Barons, from a sagging man defense to a half-court press that stonewalled the scoring threats from the Coyotes, who went from scoring 40 points in the first half to just 14 in the second. It also helped that the tough shots were no longer falling for the Coyotes.
“We had some trouble [in the first half] kind of matching up in transition. Kind of [lost] some of their girls and they were honestly, they were really just hitting tough shots,” Ingalls said, receiving a nod of approval from Tercyak. “They were contested, fade-away shots and they were all going in and credit to them. I mean, they’re a great team.”
The final frame saw the Barons bury the Coyotes in an avalanche of points, scoring 23 in the frame to erase the deficit and gain their own lead with two minutes remaining. Junior forward Jaylin Harried (8), Tercyak (7) and two big three-pointers from junior guard Elisha Robinson and Doyle secured the win.
“It’s fun to just play together,” Tercyak said. “Feed off each other’s energy and I think this is probably the best second half we played all year. No doubt.”
Top Scorers
Barons: Anna Tercyak (17), Frances Doyle (15), Jaylen Harried (12), Riley Peterson (10)
Coyotes: Destiny Turner (21), Trinity Turner (12), London Turner (11)
Upcoming Games (4A State Tournament)