By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

The current four Good Counsel girls basketball seniors were in awe of what they witnessed as freshman.

Sitting on the bench, Katie Sheahin, Symone Lyles and Sarian Snyder, with Kyleen Armstrong looking on from the stands, the four witnessed some of Good Counsel’s finest win the WCAC title. Four seniors from that team went on to play college basketball.

And ever since then, the four girls have been trying to prove that the Good Counsel legacy didn’t leave with them. So far, they’ve come short in two straight seasons.

But this year is their final chance.

“We didn’t want people to think it was just them who could do it,” Snyder said. “We could do it too. We’ve been working hard. It hasn’t happened for us yet but hopefully it will happen this year.”

Good Counsel Coach Tom Splaine called Sheahin, Lyles and Snyder to varsity for their freshman year because he wanted them to see how hard they would have to work to win. By now that lesson has been well learned.

The Falcons are coming off a loss to Bishop McNamara in last year’s conference final and they lost in the WCAC semifinals the year before. In both seasons, they finished tied or at the top of the regular season WCAC standings. Last year, the Falcons finished 28-3 compared to McNamara’s 23-7.

This season, the Falcons don’t want to let another chance to prove themselves slip away.

“I think they’ve kind of grown to appreciate what they were able to accomplish their freshman year after falling a little short their sophomore and junior years,” Splaine said. “And they had great seasons both sophomore and junior years.”

Like previous seasons, there’s a top-notch talent leaving the program. This season the Falcons will have to make due without Shanel Harrison, who averaged 17.9 ppg and 9.1 rpg last season and now plays for Virginia Tech.

Good Counsel will in turn rely on its team defense. Sheahin, while averaging the second-highest number of points per game on the team last year with 10.5 ppg, was more of a weapon on defense, where she shut down some of the conference’s top threats. The Loyola signee averaged four steals per game.

Lyles, who has committed to Ohio, has also been more of a defensive player during her years, although she has worked hard to improve her offensive game. Snyder is also extremely quick on the ball.

“They’re probably the best trio of defenders I’ve ever had,” said Splaine, who qualified his statement with the fact that he’s been coaching in the conference for 16 years. “They’re something really special.”

Through their three years the girls have learned that they can’t sleep on any team, even though no team outside of Good Counsel, Holy Cross, St. John’s or McNamara has made the girls final over the past six years.

And they also won’t sleep until they make their own name for themselves.

“Until we get another year on that banner I feel like it’s not fully achieved,” Snyder said. “We started on a win; hopefully we can finish on a win. That’s how I see it.”


ST. JOHN’S IN THE LEAD?

While the Cadets were on the outside of the conference finals last year, they may be the early favorites to win the crown this season.

St. John’s lost just one senior from last year’s squad and returns Division I signees Dymond James and Sydney Wilson, which gives St. John’s two of the top individual players in the WCAC.

“We’re a senior-heavy team, which always works in your favor,” Coach Jonathan Scribner said. “Our expectations are high every year. We feel we should compete for a title every year.”

James, an Air Force signee, is the heart-and-soul of the Cadets from her guard position. She averaged 9.3 ppg and 9 rpg and was named to the second team All-WCAC squad.

Wilson, a Georgetown signee who joined the Cadets last season after transferring from Pittsburgh, quickly made her presence known. Wilson averaged 9.6 ppg and about 4 blocks per game.

Both girls have grown as leaders of the six seniors the Cadets will trot onto the court. St. John’s should also benefit from the additional experience Scribner has now in his second year coaching the Cadets.

“They’ve decided this is it, this is senior year, they’ve got to be the leaders and take the ball,” Scribner said. “I’m expecting a big season out of both of them this year.”


MUSTANGS UP FOR DEFENSE

McNamara loses all five of its senior starters from last year’s team, including main scoring threat Tiana Myers and defensive specialist Tierra Thomas.

But that doesn’t mean the Mustangs are ready to fork over the WCAC trophy.

“When you lose five seniors it makes a big difference on your roster,” Coach Robert Surratt said. “We’re all working hard to make our own reputation and it’s been going pretty well so far.”

This year’s team has four seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and a freshman, thus giving McNamara a good mixture of experience. The seniors are Ashley Liles, Michea Bryant, Cierra Strickland and Loutice Logan. Also look out for 6-foot-2 freshman Dionna Joynes.

“We don’t really have any standout person,” Surratt said. “We’re really playing as a unit. We’ve got people that can score, but we don’t really have one high-scoring person.”

Surratt isn’t concerned by that at all. He said last year’s team didn’t have a go-to scorer either, although Myers made a strong case, especially with 19 points in the final against Good Counsel. There have been a few many turnovers during the preseason for Surratt’s liking, but he felt confident that with more playing time the players would adjust.

“With our defensive pressure and our conditioning, we will score,” Surratt said.


CROSS YOUR FINGERS

Holy Cross should be right in the thick of the championship chase once again and this year it’s likely going to be because of the Tartans’ depth.

Holy Cross brings back three starters in seniors Lia Henry and Stephanie Anya and sophomore Akilah Bethel.

Adding additional firepower is sophomore point guard Channell MacKey, who led the junior varsity to a 21-1 record last year. She steps in for Shontice Simmons, who averaged about 14 ppg last year and is now at Central Connecticut State.

Joining MacKey are three standout freshman and a transfer from Michigan, Natasha Thames.

Scoring should be fairly spread out as Anya, who signed with American, averaged 8 ppg and 10 rpg last season. Bethel averaged 6 ppg, 6 rpg and 3 steals per game as a guard and Henry also chipped in 8 ppg and 6 rpg.

“We have more balanced scoring this year,” Coach Russell Davis said. “We had two scrimmages and we’ve had almost eight people score about 10 points. … I think if we stay healthy we have a good chance at getting back to the championship game.”

The Tartans will once again hang their hat on the defensive end of the court, which is Holy Cross’ trademark. Davis hopes that the Tartans’ depth will allow his team to maintain a high tempo while wearing down its opponents.

“This year, unlike the first three years I’ve been at Holy Cross, is the deepest team I’ve had,” Davis said. “There shouldn’t be a drop off from our starters to about 10 deep.”


NEWS AND NOTES

Paul VI could push the WCAC girls basketball elite this season. The Panthers are the two-time defending Virginia Independent Schools State champions.

St. Mary’s Ryken will surely have far fewer recruiters in its gym this season as the Knights bid adieu to now North Carolina freshman  Laura Broomfield, who was a gem in the conference during her high school career.