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Mar. 12, 2008, Gazette: B-CC girls reach end of the road

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase girls basketball team took the familiar bus trip to Burtonsville last Wednesday. What waited at the other end was undefeated Paint Branch and the end of the Barons’ season, a 76-61 loss in the 3A West Region semifinals.

‘‘We get to this point pretty much every season,” B-CC coach Rob Kurtz said. ‘‘The drive down Route 29. Credit to them; they’re just better than us.”

B-CC (13-10) was not better than Paint Branch (22-0) this season, but it was better than it was supposed to be. After starting 2-6, the Barons won eight of their final 10 games to finish second to the Panthers in the Montgomery 3A East Division and earn the fourth seed to the regional playoffs. Two of its losses came in a prestigious holiday tournament.

This despite graduating two-time All-Gazette first-team guard Nalini Hawkins from last year’s regional top seed. Hawkins scored 21.1 points per game as a senior, and 1,424 total in her career, yet the Barons reached the same point in the playoffs this year as last.

Balance replaced star power, with four players averaging between 8.8 and 10.1 points per game this season. The Barons’ top scorer was its only senior, forward Allie Russo, also their leading rebounder. Russo finished her final high school game with 9 points and 6 rebounds, mostly in the second half.

‘‘I think we exceeded expectations,” Kurtz said. ‘‘We only had one senior. The girls progressed nicely. What we lose in Allie is all the intangibles. Hopefully other girls can pick that up next season.”

Among next year’s returnees are the entire starting backcourt of juniors Maggie King (8.8 points per game) and Alicia Gorina (9.6) and sophomore Bria White (9.2). King runs the point; White is a pure scorer with 3-point range; Gorina is a slasher who led the Barons against Paint Branch with 17 points.

The return of three big post players – juniors Ariana Stowe (5-foot-11) and Maria Ontiveros (6-foot) and freshman Maddie Hook (6-2) – should help make up some of Russo’s production next year. Junior Kenza Sijelmassi and sophomore Tena Thau will continue to bring energy and defense.

Once again in 2009, though, the Barons’ road to states is most likely Route 29 North.

‘‘They are the better team, and the better team won,” Kurtz said of the Panthers. ‘‘I hope the better team wins three more games [through the state final]. It would make me feel better about our three losses to them.”

Dec. 5, 2007, Gazette: The next phase begins

Two weeks ago, Army freshman Nalini Hawkins was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week, which says everything about the kind of player the Bethesda-Chevy Chase girls basketball team will miss this year.

But coach Rob Kurtz has spent a fair chunk of the last two years preparing for Hawkins’ inevitable graduation, and what’s left in her wake is eight returning players — including just one senior — who have tasted success.

‘‘We think this fall was our adjustment period,” Kurtz said. ‘‘We don’t want to go backwards. We want to continue to go forward, and I’ve been beyond pleasantly surprised.”

The team’s confidence could take a knock early; thanks to the boys’ and girls’ success the last two years, B-CC starts with a brutal slate, including games against Whitman, Walter Johnson, Damascus, Springbrook and Paint Branch before the holiday break.

The holidays include a trip to the prestigious Boardwalk Classic in New Jersey, where last year — with Hawkins and classmate Melinh Rozen — the Barons lost their two games by a combined 41 points. But Kurtz feels that if his team can survive December, the next two months could be special.

‘‘We could be 1-7 or 0-8, and it wouldn’t be ridiculous,” he said. ‘‘But we’ll try to make a run for the division again, and we want to get back to where we were last year [the regional semifinals], or even further.”

Kurtz expects the lone senior, 5-9 forward Allie Russo, to take a big step up this year. The junior class is six strong, including guard Alicia Gorina, the team’s third-leading scorer the last two years. Three sophomores, two of whom played varsity last year, and two freshmen round out the roster.

To mitigate the loss of its two go-to scorers, B-CC will up the tempo and aggressiveness this season, looking to create transition opportunities. Kurtz accepts that this means some easy baskets for opponents, but in scrimmages, it has also meant balanced scoring up and down his own roster.

‘‘It’s a 12-girl roster, and all 12 can get out and play,” he said. ‘‘We have nine core girls who have been through this for at least two years, and we’ll depend on those nine who have been in the trenches against Paint Branch and Urbana to lead us.”

Location: Bethesda
Nickname: Barons
Head coach: Rob Kurtz, 8th year (75-85 record)
State classification: 3A
Last year’s record: 16-7
Last regional title: None
Last state title: None
Players to watch: G Alicia Gorina, G Bria White, F Allie Russo

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