On Jan. 20, McLean’s girls’ varsity basketball team took on Yorktown at home in their 15th game of the season. This game marked the first time the team was able to see their old coach and her new team after leaving the Highlanders last season. The Highlanders were coming off a three-game losing streak and were looking to pick up their first district win of the season.
“This is a really tough game and it’s against our old coach, so that is definitely going to hit hard within the team,” said junior forward Karine Najarian.
Yorktown started the game by hitting a 3-pointer on their first possession, setting the tone for what was to come. McLean would follow this three-pointer with two layups, but the Patriots quickly responded with their second 3-pointer of the game. Two minutes of scoreless play was broken by a free-throw from junior guard Cora Stevens.
“We thought we could match up better in a zone, but they were able to move the ball very well and beat it,” head coach Pat Deegan said. “We didn’t do a good enough job as coaches to prepare them for the slides they needed to make.”
Yorktown followed this up with their third three-pointer of the game to make it 9-5 Yorktown with just a few minutes left. After a McLean miss, the Patriots capitalized to again score a three-pointer and end the quarter up 12-5.
Stevens started the second quarter with another 3-pointer to make the score 12-8. The next five minutes of the quarter went back and forth until Yorktown took a six-point lead, forcing McLean into a timeout. The Patriots came out of the timeout strong, hitting another three, and extending their lead to 23-11. The half ended with Yorktown knocking down two sets of free throws to make the score 27-11.
The third quarter involved more back-and-forth play. The Highlanders were sloppy, committing numerous turnovers and unnecessary fouls, which allowed Yorktown to maintain their lead. The quarter ended with two McLean 3-pointers to make the score 36-23.
The fourth quarter followed the theme of the third, with neither team able to pull ahead or cut the lead. The game ended, 45-34 in favor of the Patriots, moving McLean to 3-12 on the season and 0-6 in district play.
“I was really excited because I felt like we played the third and fourth quarters with a ton of energy after the bad start,” Deegan said. “We started to put the ball in the hoop, so for us, it was a real positive finish.”
