Since managing success is just as valuable a lesson as regrouping from failure, Western basketball coach Tiffany Silver was particularly interested to see what her team would take from Thursday's stunning upset of Riverdale Baptist at the Basketball Academy.
It took a little more than 36 hours for the Doves to give her their answer, as they were back on the court Saturday morning to meet Milford Mill.
If holding the Millers to seven points in the first quarter didn't provide proof that Western meant business, then the one point Milford Mill posted in the second quarter should have.
"What we wanted them to do was play smart, so they wouldn't have to play as hard late in the game," Silver said. "We wanted them to come out, put [the Millers] away early, so we could relax, take out the starters and have some fun, so nobody got hurt."
All that really got hurt was Milford Mill's feelings, as the Doves pounded the Millers, 59-25. Of course, it bears noting that the Milford Mill team Western dismantled has only four players back from the unit that beat the Doves in the Class 3A regional final last March.
That said, Western's defensive thrust Saturday, holding the Millers to four shot-clock violations in five second-quarter possessions, would have been impressive against any opponent.
"Coming off a big win, we had a little swagger, as any team would," said forward Zhondria Benn. "But the focus [Saturday] was to keep the intensity up and not to play down to the level of the competition. We didn't want to make silly mistakes just because we thought we could win or because we thought it's an easy game. We want to play with the same intensity that we played Thursday all the time."
If that happens, Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association officials can start engraving Western's name on the 3A championship trophy now.
After dropping a nine-point decision to No. 1 St. Frances last month, the third-ranked Doves (8-1) went toe-to-toe Thursday with Riverdale Baptist, one of the nation's best girls basketball teams, and never flinched, holding a lead through most of the first half and into the third quarter.
But even after the Lady Crusaders took the lead, Western didn't fold and stayed close, going back in front in the final minute, then holding off Riverdale Baptist, the Washington area's top-ranked team, with more stellar defense.
They held forward Demauria Liles, who is headed to Maryland next season, to just two points, and, in the process, restored a measure of pride to the Western uniform.
"That was the biggest game of our season," said Benn, who will play at Georgetown next season. "It tested who we really are. It set the standard for the rest of the season and the postseason, when we go to states. That game was really a statement game for us to let everybody know that we have the capability of getting Western quote-unquote up to par and where it used to be."
It has been 10 years since the once-storied Doves program won a state title. In addition, Western has lost the past two city championships, once its exclusive province. Now, with a win over a great team, the Doves have reason to believe March may be special again.
"For the most part, we're in a good place now," said Silver, a former Western player in her first season at the school after two years at Towson Catholic. "We needed to be where we were Thursday night for that win to go into the rest of our season. We're getting there. They're very open to new leadership this year. They're letting us coach. They're like sponges. They're playing under us. They're playing for us. It's working out."
Besides the 6-foot-2 Benn, who is playing closer to the basket this season, Western is getting solid leadership from point guard Lavon Woods, the other team captain and one of eight seniors on the roster.
And, for the future, the Doves have a brilliant freshman, Akeema Richards, a 5-7 guard who shows every sign of being the next Western star. Richards, whom Silver's staff noticed in a fall league last year, is remarkably poised for such a young player. She had eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter of the Riverdale Baptist win, as well as four steals in the final period.
"Who, A-Rich? That's my home girl, my dog," Benn said of Richards. "We have all these seniors and we've been coached and coached. If there were any limits to our game, she doesn't have any of that. She's our fire when our light starts to dim a little bit."
That light might shine all the way to a state championship.
milton.kent@baltsun.com
