After a 15-8 regular season record that saw the JR girls’ basketball team finish third in DCIAA, the Tigers’ season ended in disappointment, as they fell in the DCSAA Class A championship for the second year in a row, this time to Georgetown Day School.
Following the 2023 season, where the Tigers improved from a 10-13 record in 2022 to a 21-9 record in 2023 and finished runner-up to Archbishop Carroll in the DCSAA Class A Championship, the Tigers were ready to build off their momentum and continue the turnaround of the JR girls basketball program in 2024.
“We had a huge group of new people last year, so we spent a lot of time getting to know each other as teammates, but now that we have gotten a better understanding of how to play with each other, we are doing better,” senior guard Moxie Coleman-Miller said.
In addition to new players, two of the three team’s coaches were new additions as well. “We had two out of three new coaches this season, so figuring out where everyone fit was a challenge that we faced throughout the season,” Coleman-Miller added.
Led by returning seniors and captains Kryslynn Stewart and Gabby Eversley-Holland, the team received the 3 seed in the DCIAA playoffs, where they cruised to a 65-30 win over 5 seed Anacostia in the first round, but were knocked out in the semifinals by 1 seed and eventual champion Dunbar High School, losing 66-56.
Despite the loss, the Tigers used it as fuel for their DCSAA run. “While it would’ve been nice to win cities, the opportunity to play in the DCSAA Championship again meant that much more to us,” senior captain and guard Kyrslynn Stewart said. “When we lost in the DCIAA tournament it added to our motivation to win states,” Coleman-Miller added.
The point guard Stewart was productive on both sides of the ball for the Tigers, leading the team in points and steals per game with 12.1 ppg and 4.4 spg respectively, while center Aminyah Muhammed averaged 9.4 rebounds per game and served as a guiding force offensively, with a team best 51% field goal percentage.
The Tigers received a first round bye as the 2 seed in the DCSAA Class A finals and captured a 57-29 over Banneker High School in the quarterfinals to set up a semifinal matchup with Eastern High School.
While the Tigers found themselves in a hole early and remained there until late in the second half, they dug deep to overcome a 12 point deficit to start the fourth quarter. “We knew we had to leave it all on the court. The possibility of that being our last game motivated us to keep fighting,” Stewart said.
With 15 seconds left on the clock, sophomore forward Michaela Jenkins forced a turnover, giving the Tigers the ball. Sophomore forward Noa Gordon proceeded to break free on the inbound and drained a mid-range jumper to give the Tigers the lead at 54-52. “The semifinals game was a fight that required something from every person on the team and we were able to win because no one gave up fighting,” Coleman-Miller added.
Advancing to the final, the Tigers couldn’t quite pull out the win and fell to 1 seed GDS 61-43. “In the semifinals, we as a team had to really dig deep and keep our heads to pull through. I think one of the reasons that we lost in the finals was that we weren’t able to do that again,” Coleman-Miller explained.
Despite the loss, the Tigers are looking forward to next season to continue to build on their foundation. “It was a great season and we went far, but the players returning next year have big plans for taking the team even further,” Coleman-Miller concluded.
