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Blake junior Christine Weithman drives to the basket for a hoop and one immediately after Gaithersburg had grabbed the momentum with a 3-pointer. The Bengals are 6-1 since Weithman returned to the line-up from a torn ACL.
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By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Editor
Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area

Through eight games this season, the Bengals had just two wins -- those over teams that would combine to win four games all year.

When the calendar turned from 2008 to 2009, however, so did the Blake fortunes. The Bengals won their next 13 games and returned junior Christine Weithman from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

But their accomplishment from Thursday night likely sits atop the list.

In the 4A West Region semifinal, fourth-seeded Blake beat top-seeded Gaithersburg on the road, 62-59, to clinch a berth in Saturday's regional championship game.

"I think we had a lot of momentum going into this game," said Weithman, who scored 12 points against the Trojans. "We won ... most of our games in February, we came out ready to play and came off two good wins in the playoffs."

Added junior Justine Allen, who scored 13 points: "At the beginning of the year we didn't have a lot of momentum. We were kind of thrown off by the loss of one of our better players, in Christine.

"When we started figuring out that we could win games, over time new players started stepping up. We built chemistry and we eventually became a winning team."

That chemistry was validated by the box score on Thursday.

The Bengals (18-7) had four players with double-digit scoring: senior Danielle Douglas (team-high 15 points), Allen (13), Weithman (12) and junior Gabi Hall (10). Senior forward Faye Dunston also had nine points.

That balance proved to be pivotal against a Titan team that posted a 20-point fourth quarter in a voracious comeback effort.

"It's nice knowing that one player doesn't have to hold the team," Allen said. "If Danielle Douglas fouls out, we all know that we can hold our own.

"Like Gabi Hall came out in the fourth quarter and had six points that were big. We all know that we can trust each other when the shot goes up."

Gaithersburg tested Blake's cohesion in the final minutes.

A nine-point Bengal lead to start the final period was cut almost immediately to four.

The Trojans (20-4) trimmed the margin to three points twice in the fourth quarter and a single point twice more. Both times that Blake led by one, Gaithersburg had a possession to take the lead, but failed to convert.

And a would-be overtime-forcing 3-pointer at the buzzer never made it to the rim.

Blake had left its lead at three points on a missed free throw with :04.5 seconds to go and Gaithersburg grabbed the rebound.

With time winding, sophomore Kara Marshall (game-high 20 points) caught an up-court pass, instinctively turned and fired towards the basket. But Hall, after scoring six-consecutive Bengal points earlier in the quarter, leaped to block Marshall's attempt as time expired.

"I saw them pass it in real quick and I didn't know exactly how much time was left on the clock," Hall said. "I saw her catch the ball and come toward me, so I figured I'd just get on her and stick my hands up.

"And, then, I tried not to look like I fouled her. I looked away from the ref."

Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com


Blake              17  16  14  15  --  62
Gaithersburg  13  10  16  20  --  59

Blake -- Douglas 6 3-6 15; Allen 6 1-2 13; Weithman 3 5-7 12; Hall 5 0-0 10; Dunston 3 3-4 9; Davis 1 0-0 3.
Team totals: 24 12-19 62.
Gaithersburg -- K. Marshall 6 5-6 20; Jones 2 8-10 12; C. Marshall 5 0-0 11; Prater 2 1-2 6; Cook 2 2-2 6; Seipp 1 1-2 3; Scott 0 1-2 1; Tardif 0 0-2 0. Team totals: 18 18-26 59.
3-Pointers -- Blake 2 (Weithman, Davis), Gaithersburg 5 (K. Marshall 3, C. Marshall, Prater).