Seniors honored as Mustangs lose their hard-fought season finale

Jelani Scott ‘12 |Staff Writer

The BMHS Varsity Boys Basketball team (13-15) came to play in their tough Senior Night game against the #2 ranked DeMatha Stags (25-3) but fell short, 60-38. Mustang and Stag fans alike packed into the BMHS Main Gym for last Friday night’s anticipated matchup and the energy was electric. The rival schools had previously faced on January 18th and the Stags took that matchup at Showplace Arena, 90-75, so the Mustangs were looking for revenge.

DeMatha took control early by winning the tip-off but McNamara was able to play some tough defense and deny the Stags the game’s first basket. DeMatha standout Jerami Grant ’12 scored the first point of the game, going 1-2 at the free throw line, and, shortly after, Guard Stephan Jiggets ’13 scored the first field goal of the game with a layup followed by an and-one foul shot, giving BMHS a 3-1 lead. The game got testy early on as Forward Damian Prince ‘13 committed a hard foul on Grant as he was driving to the rim and the crowd was up in arms over the call, some cheering and some not. The remainder of the quarter saw both sides continue to play tough D and miss easy shots as the Stags took the lead to end the quarter, 11-9.

In the 2nd quarter, the Stags came charging out the gate and go on a 5-0 run that saw standout junior BeeJay Anya have a rim-rattling dunk and a block, as well as a 3-point basket from Marcellous Bell ‘12 . The Mustangs saw they were losing the momentum and took the game’s first timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Jiggets was able to hit a 3 for the Mustangs and cut the lead to 4. However, Bell would hit two more 3-pointers and the Stags would outscore the Mustangs 15- 7 and command a 31-16 lead at halftime.

The 3rd quarter saw a new energy from the Mustangs as they attempted to make a comeback. Seniors Kelsey Jenkins and Erik Thomas were two of the contributors to this effort with two key plays. Jenkins had a big rebound and putback layup while Thomas displayed superb hustle as he was able to save the ball off a missed Stag shot and throw it to Kevin Robbins ‘13, who had a clear path, setting up an easy layup. This basket cut the lead to 9 as the Mustangs trailed 24-33 and outscored the Stags 8-2 up to that point. The momentum seemed to be on McNamara’s side until a monster alley-oop was thrown down by DeMatha’s Grant changed it a bit. Still, BMHS was able to outscore them 15-14 and the score was 31-45 to end the quarter.

In the 4th quarter, the momentum shift completely took effect as the Stags were able to outscore the Mustangs 15-7 to secure the win. Mustangs’ guard Jiggets was the leading scorer with 11 points while the Stags had four players in double figures. This game marked the end of the high school careers of forward Kelsey Jenkins (4 points) and guard Erik Thomas (1 point), whose families were in attendance. The Mustangs end the season with a 13-15 record and are ranked 6th in the WCAC. The Stags have one more game left as they will play a huge game on Sunday against the #1 ranked PVI Panthers.

(NOTE: In a bit of good news for McNamara fans, the Girls’ Basketball team was able to defeat Elizabeth Seton, 52-50, in Seton’s Senior Night game and improved their record to 17-11 to end their season).

Anthony Brown ’12
Sports Editor

The Varsity Basketball Lady Mustangs were outplayed in their loss to the Good Counsel Lady Falcons on January 31, 2012, losing by double digits. Talking to Coach Gary Lee  before the game, he said that it’s very important that they have a good run in their last five games of the season and it would definitely set them up where they need to be at as far as the playoffs are concerned; also saying that they want to be in a position where they don’t play the top teams to start the playoffs.” The game started with turnovers from both teams but the Lady Mustangs were able to score the first points of the game with a three pointer by Chanice Lee’12 and then Good Counsel went on a hot streak and ended up with a 7 point lead by the end of the first quarter with a score of 25-18. In the second quarter, the onslaught continued with junior forward Amanda Fiorvanti ’13 doing damage in the paint area in that quarter and the entire game which weakened the Lady Mustangs defense and allowed Good Counsel to score points. The Good Counsel Lady Falcons were able take the Mustangs off their game and increased their lead to double digits with a halftime score  of 41-30. The Mustangs were 3 for 10 from the free throw line, had 6 turnovers and shot 42 percent from the field in the first half.
Good Counsel kept their great play up in 3rd quarter and the baskets didn’t stop coming.  The Mustangs did however show promise in their shooting and fast break play getting to the basket and trying everything to get back into the game.  The Lady Falcons didn’t allow their lead to crumble increasing it to 15 by the end of the third with a score of 59-44.
In the fourth, Good Counsel sealed the victory by outscoring the Lady Mustangs 29 to 17 in the quarter losing the game 88-61.
When asked after the game how Amanda Fiorvanti’s destruction in the paint area affected the Mustangs defense, Coach Lee said, “It affected it very much; this is the second time that she has hurt us bad. We just have to find someone that’s able to guard her because we may see this team in the playoffs.”  He did also say that the team is going to go back to the drawing board and make sure that they do all the right things. He thought there were a lot of breakdowns on their end as far as the defensive rotations, turnovers and felt they were giving Good Counsel too many second-chance baskets. The Lady Mustangs play at St.Mary’s Ryken looking to win most of their games in a 5-game stretch with the season coming to a close.

Jiggetts has big night to lead Mustangs

Andrew Feather ‘13 | Sports Editor

Friday night in Forestville, behind a sensational shooting night from guard Stephan Jiggetts ‘13, the Bishop McNamara Mustangs defended their home court against St. Mary’s Ryken, galloping away with a 72- 53 victory.

The Mustangs (12-12 overall, 7-7 in conference), winners of two straight after dropping four in a row, handed the Knights (4-19, 0-13) yet another conference loss in a game that they ran away with in the second half. Coming out of the break up 36-28, McNamara went on on a 15-2 run to begin the third quarter and never looked back.

After the game Jiggetts, whose team-leading 24 points helped to fuel the Mustangs, said, “It was a team effort and it felt good to get the win.” Forward Wayne Johnson ‘13 added that the team’s attitude has been more positive since their win over Good Counsel last Tuesday.

Up this Tuesday for the Mustangs is St. John’s, a game both Johnson and Jiggetts said has been circled on their calender since they lost to the Cadets by 40 in early January. Bishop McNamara Basketball Coach Marty Keithline hopes the addition of forward Kevin Robbins ‘13, who had been in San Antonio at the United States Army All-American Combine at the time of the last game, will help to avenge the blowout loss. He said to have a chance to win and continue their current streak, that his Mustangs just need to “play better basketball.”

Jelani Scott
Staff Writer

24 JAN 2012–The BMHS Men’s Varsity Basketball team fell to Paul VI, 67-77, on Tuesday after a hard fought, action packed game. The Panthers, led by standout Guard Stanford Robinson ’13, are 17-2 on the year and are the second ranked team in Virginia so it was understood that this wouldn’t be an easy contest. The Panthers won the tip to start the game and quickly hit a 3 point basket, proving that they looked to control the tempo of the game. However, the Mustangs were able to keep their composure, despite the tough defense being played by the Panthers, and ended the first quarter down 16-19.

To start the second quarter, PVI went on a 9-0 run, punctuated by a devastating alley-oop dunk that sent the crowd in an uproar on both sides. This run prompted Coach Keithline to call the game’s first timeout, as he and his staff were noticeably frustrated by their team’s play. Coming out of the timeout, the Mustangs appeared to gain some much needed momentum after a 3 point play from Forward Ryen Wise ’13. Following that pivotal play, the Mustangs outscored PVI 13-7 to end the quarter and were down 29-32 heading into halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Forward Kevin Robbins ’13 hit a big 3 pointer to tie the game at 32. Moments later, when the Mustangs were down 38-34, starting Forward Kelsey Jenkins ’12 suffered an injury and play was stopped. Following this brief pause in action, a technical foul occurred when Robinson held onto to the rim following a missed dunk, giving the Mustangs an easy 2 free throws, making the score 42-40. Even though they held their ground for most of the quarter, BMHS still trailed 48-53, heading into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, PVI scored a quick 5 points but Jenkins, who returned to the game, was able to answer that with a 3 pointer and cut the lead to 58-51. Soon after, bad defense from PVI resulted in the game becoming a free throw shooting contest for the Mustangs, as they hit 11 of 12 from the line, cutting the lead to 64-66. Unfortunately, there was too much time left as PVI made a key steal and layup and were able to draw fouls and hit the majority of their free throws and the Mustangs ended up losing by 10. After the game, one of McNamara’s assistant coaches said he felt that the team played very well, that they hustled, played together, moved the ball around well and got the shots they wanted. The MVP for the Mustangs was Robbins, who had 25 points and 7 rebounds. Guard Stephan Jiggets ’13 contributed 13 points and 5 assists, while Guard Jerron Martin ’14 shined as the sixth man with 14 points and 5 assists. The team has hit a slump recently as this was their third consecutive loss and hopefully they can turn things as the season comes to a close.