Girls Varsity Has Hoop Dreams and the Gall to Get Them
With a quick turnaround until the ISL AA tournament, the Maroon had two practices to sharpen their strategy for Bullis. The team had lost to this perennial ISL threat twice before in the regular season, first by five and then by 17, but the team would need to win on the road Friday evening to keep their playoff hopes alive.
As they had in typical meetings, the Bulldogs came out firing in the opening eight minutes. Remaining calm, Episcopal continued to answer their opponent's scoring barrages with runs of their own. The team also made intuitive drives that led to and-one opportunities and got the Bulldogs into early foul trouble. At halftime, EHS trailed by just two points.
Not ready to end their season, Bullis put together an impressive rally early in the third stanza, but the Maroon kept their heads. Haley Sabol '20 and Maya Thompson '20 proved an unstoppable duo, playing off one another to create mismatches, open lanes, and three-point buckets. Sabol and Lucy Dixon '21 were also monsters on the glass, combining for 24 of the team's 41 rebounds on the night. Late in the fourth quarter, a Sabol three-pointer gave the team a slight edge with under a minute to play. Moments later, Thompson ripped down a defensive rebound and was sent to the line to shoot a pair of bonus freethrows, helping extend the team's lead to two. In the final 11 seconds, Dymin Gerow '20 gave the defensive performance of the year by "guarding the yard" and keeping Bullis' best player from getting a shot off. As the final buzzer sounded, the team rushed to half court to celebrate Episcopal's first win over the Bulldogs since 2007- and a chance to play in the ISL semifinals!
