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Washington Post

H.S. Basketball Notes: Sandy Spring Friends, Mclean School Win PVAC Titles

Feb 24, 2020

By Washington Post Staff

For the Sandy Spring Friends girls’ basketball team, last year’s Potomac Valley Athletic Conference championship run was a whirlwind. As the team earned its first conference banner since 2003, the players made sure to enjoy the experience.

This season, as the Wildebeests looked to repeat, they wanted more than just memories.

“With this run, it wasn’t just about the excitement of being there,” Coach Amanda Hill said. “They wanted more.”

With a 54-49 win over McLean School, the Wildebeests scored a second consecutive title. Sophomore guard Talia Trotter, a dynamic scorer who had torched PVAC defenses all winter, finished with 36 points. McLean employed a triangle-and-two defense to try to stop Trotter and fellow guard Mia Broadway, but both players came up big for the Wildebeests. Broadway scored seven of her nine points in a tense fourth quarter.

“Since November 4, we’ve been telling this team they have a target on their back,” Hill said. “And they still got it done.”

On the boys’ side, McLean School scored a 70-63 win over Sandy Spring. It was the program’s first conference title since 2013.

The Mustangs knew they had an opportunity for success this year after they returned five starters. That group included forward Andres Frye, one of the area’s top scorers. He led the team with 31 points Saturday.

“He’s got a motor like I’ve never seen,” Coach David Long said. “He just doesn’t accept that there’s going to be a ball he can’t get to. It’s just a different thing with him.”

McLean had lost to Sandy Spring early in the season, dropping its record to 1-3. Since that game, the team finished the season by winning 23 of 24.

In the bigger picture, Saturday’s championship was the culmination of a successful era for the program. In four years together, the team’s seniors went 75-25. Before that, the program had what Long called “some lean years.” It was something the coach and his players had to combat as they worked their way back to the top of the conference.

“We had a mantra of ‘We’re allowed to be good,’ ” Long said. “We just had to keep telling ourselves that. Trust each other, love each other, and the rest will come.”

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