By the time the postseason arrives, most high school basketball teams have a template for success — a game, a week, a month or even a quarter in which it reached its full potential.
“We were putting some things together tonight that we’ve been talking about since before the season,” junior forward Nyla Brooks said. “We feel like we’re playing our best basketball in February, and that’s what you always hope for.”
No. 5 Ireton’s play was airtight against the Falcons, a beautiful blend of ball stopping and ball movement. It was the kind of performance the Cardinals will need to survive the WCAC tournament in the last weekend of February.
The girls’ side of the venerated conference has been top-heavy with elite talent for the past decade. St. John’s and Paul VI, which have earned national reputations, have combined to win nine of the past 10 titles.
But this winter, thanks to teams such as Good Counsel and Ireton, the postseason could go differently. With two weeks left before the tournament, this year’s edition has an air of unpredictability.
Bishop McNamara remains the team to beat. The Mustangs, who won it all in 2020, are undefeated in league play and cruising toward the tournament’s top seed. But behind them, the contenders are lining up.
After the Mustangs, there are six teams that have a conference record of .500 or better: Ireton, Good Counsel, St. John’s, Paul VI, Archbishop Carroll and Elizabeth Seton. All of them have posted a few résumé-boosting wins, flashing the potential for a deep postseason run.
“This is the first year that I’ve been here [that] the league has been truly balanced,” Ireton Coach Kesha Walton said. “It can be anybody’s tournament this year.”
The Cardinals (17-7) and Falcons (12-9) entered Wednesday’s game in second and fifth place. They played each other in early January, with Good Counsel earning a three-point home win. But Wednesday night, the Cardinals quickly built a double-digit lead. A physical press, anchored by senior Desirae Ashton, created chaos, and deft ball movement led to easy transition points on the other end. By halftime, Ireton led by 25.
Ashton led four Ireton scorers in double figures with 21 points as the teams finished the game with a running clock.
“Every team in this league has its great players, its strength and weaknesses,” Ashton said. “The tournament is just going to come down to who can play their best and stay together.”
