For three quarters, Clarksburg Coyotes senior guard Faith Kali was doing everything right. Kali, a team captain, was coordinating her team, delivering smart passes, getting down low to fight for rebounds and hounding her opponent when the ball was near. But on the scoreboard, she’d failed to register a point, even with the open looks she gained from ball handling and finding open spots against the Frederick High Cadets’ 2-3 zone defense. Through it all, though, she remained vigilant.
“I didn’t let that get to my head,” Kali said. “I still try to keep my composure and play the best that I could possibly play on the court and not let the missed shots get to me.”
Her patience paid off in the final frame as she found her first bucket with 3:27 left in the contest. The two-pointer put the Coyotes up by five, keeping the Cadets at bay and sparking another scoring run for the Coyotes–one that would end with Kali sinking two clutch free throws with under a minute left to make it an insurmountable 11-point lead. And when the buzzer sounded, Kali and Coyotes Head Coach Sissy Natoli found one another for a joyous embrace.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have four years with [Kali],” Natoli said. “I’ve only had two. So sometimes, you just embrace the opportunity to coach the kids in the time frame that you have them and you just love every moment. I wish we had four years together, but she’s learned so much, and what she’s done is stepped it up as a leader. We’ve come a long way.”
The Coyotes now find themselves in the state quarterfinals, but getting there over Frederick took resolve and discipline. It took growth from their first game against Frederick back in early December during which the Coyotes’ three best players– sisters London, Destiny and Trinity Turner– fouled out.
The game featured more than 70 free throws and taught the Coyotes a hard-earned lesson about discipline when they lost, 61-53. But they learned from the loss, and nothing showed that more than in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game in the Frederick High gymnasium, where the Coyotes were down 26-28, after scoring only five points and allowing 10 in the third quarter.
The sputtering Coyotes offense began to find momentum as the fourth quarter began. Senior guard Trinity Turner sunk two free throws to kick-start the scoring run and put them back into a tie just 27 seconds into the quarter. Free throws have been the Coyotes’ bane throughout the postseason, and it continued in this game during which they were shooting 40% from the line.
Scoring in the paint is where Clarksburg has excelled all season; but Frederick’s 2-3 zone defense, with 6-foot-2 senior center Aubree Murray staunchly defending the interior, had nullified them. The Coyotes’ best quarter scoring had been when Murray suffered a knee injury in the second, when they rattled off 10 points in the final three minutes. But when Murray returned, the scoring stopped–at least until the fourth quarter when the Coyotes’ transition offense hustled back to outpace the defense getting set.
While the Coyotes’ offense suddenly found its stride, it was the defense that ensured victory. Destiny Turner poached two more steals in the quarter. She added four more enormous rebounds, two on both sides of the court, and finished with 14 on the night.
“It looked to be the difference-maker in that final frame for sure,” Trinity Turner said. “Once we had Aubree [Murray] on the three-point line, we knew that we just had to box out everybody else.”
Every loose ball, errant pass and rebound was in the Coyotes’ favor, as they put everything together for a fourth-quarter tidal wave, washing away Frederick and the boisterous home crowd. Natoli said it’s the best she’s seen her squad play.
“Absolutely,” Natoli said. “We had a great lock against [Bethesda-Chevy Chase] in the county championship, but I thought we played with more heart and more hustle tonight because there was more at stake. This was one of our best defensive performances all season long.”
“We didn’t want to go home,” Trinity Turner said. “We knew this wasn’t the end of our season. We definitely aren’t done.”
Now, the Coyotes move on to the state quarterfinals, with their focus on the challenge ahead.
“We’re just going to take it one game at a time,” London Turner said. “We have a game on Saturday, so we’re just going to prepare ourselves for that.”
Notable stats
Coyotes: Trinity Turner (17), Destiny Turner (12), London Turner (9)
Cadets: Sydney Huskey (14), Serenity Allen (4), Marlee Williams (4)
Upcoming games (4A State Tournament)
Clarksburg Coyotes vs. Richard Montgomery Rockets, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET