Recently, guard play has led the Springbrook girls basketball program. In its 20-win season a year ago, seniors Taryn Christian and Eryn Withers were the leading scorers, while this year, it’s sophomore Sunny Conway-Flores and junior Ferin Richardson doing the honors.
The Blue Devils aren’t known for their interior presences, which figured to be Northwest’s advantage Friday night when the teams met in Silver Spring for the first round of the 4A West Region playoffs.
But it wasn’t, thanks to Alyssa Montgomery.
Springbrook’s senior power forward was the difference in her team’s 51-48 victory, scoring a season-high 20 points with 15 rebounds. More importantly, with the Blue Devils (12-11) up by just a point with 10 seconds remaining, she intercepted a Northwest (12-11) pass and threw an outlet pass to Richardson for a clinching layup as time expired.
Northwest’s dynamic duo of forwards Deven Green and Nikki Day, who averaged nearly 35 points and 20 rebounds per game on the season, matched those totals. But Montgomery was every bit their equal, if not more.
‘‘We came in knowing what we were up against, with Deven Green and Nikki Day, two of the better players in the county,” said Montgomery. ‘‘So I just feel like I owed it to my team to give it my all. Nobody wants to see themselves in the locker room saying ‘I didn’t give it everything I had.’”
Montgomery had a double-double by halftime, with 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Blue Devils held a precarious 29-27 lead. But after picking up her third foul early in the third quarter, it was Conway-Flores who took over, sticking three jumpers and a scoop layup to hold the two-point lead.
For the Jaguars, Day and Green both had double-doubles. The 6-foot Day, committed to Howard University on a basketball scholarship, totaled 17 points and 10 boards. She ran the floor for layups, slashed from the baseline and even stuck a 3-pointer. Green, an All-Gazette first-teamer a year ago, matched her season averages of 18 points and 10 rebounds.
But in a way, the game was a synopsis of Northwest’s entire season: flashes of brilliance, with two 7-0 runs along the way, but lapses in focus as well. After reserve Amber Mitchell’s steal and layup, the Jags trailed by just one with under a minute to go, and an ensuing defensive stop gave them a chance for the win. Following a timeout, the plan to get the ball to Green failed, as Montgomery easily stepped in front of Northwest point guard Sierra Kimbrough’s pass.
‘‘We were consistently inconsistent all year,” said Northwest head coach Marc Waldman. ‘‘We really feel we have a very good team. ... I’m proud of the fact that we’ve had our first back-to-back winning seasons, 24 wins in two years. Our kids went all out — hopefully next year, we can go all out and still make it to states, too.”
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils would have to first get by Whitman Monday — a game that finished too late for this edition — to even start looking at all that. But performances like Montgomery’s would give them a chance.
”Hey, other teams don’t have a Nikki Day or a Deven Green,” said Springbrook head coach Oliver Riggs Jr. ‘‘They have good ball-players but they don’t have people like that. But Alyssa’s pretty good, too. I’ve told Alyssa, there is nobody in the league that can jump like you. Go up strong.”
