Predicting the ISL & WCAC Girls Basketball Playoffs
Top 10 Girls Basketball Players in the DMV; Discuss Here!!!
Highlighting the ISL and WCAC
In the ISL, will someone be able to stop Sidwell Friends like Georgetown Visitation did last year in the playoffs? Sidwell should be more focused than ever this time around. Potomac, Maret and Bullis are the three teams that will give Sidwell a run for the ISL. Maret has a solid core of players, but do they have the bench help needed to push through these games? Does London Liley, River Adams, Kennedy Austin and the Maret team have enough to win three straight?
Potomac seems to be the underdog of the group. They have a young team and are led by freshman star Sabrina Anderson. Will first-year coach Krsytal Ferguson along with Sabrina Anderson make a name for themselves on the big stage?
Bullis is always intriguing. They have plenty of players to match up against Sidwell, but do they have the poise and maturity to play all four quarters? Led by Megan Yarnevich and their own freshman phenom Ivanna Manyacka, they have the best chance to knock Sidwell off the mountain top.
Everyone always wants to knock the champ down, but Sidwell is one of the best in the nation. Not only do they have two McDonald All-Americans in Kendall Dudley and Zania Socka-Nguemen, they also have super sophomore Jordyn Jackson who seems to have taken the lead role on this team. Many say it’s a three-headed monster surrounded by good role players, but there is a new girl making a name for herself in DC. Jayda Dixon, only a freshman, has been playing more like an upperclassman the past month and now gives Sidwell another scorer on the court. With all this being said, DCSportsFan predicts Bullis to win the ISL Championship. A star is born this weekend. Remember this name — Ivanna Manyacka!
What about the WCAC?
Next up, one of the best conferences in the country — the WCAC! As much as everyone thinks McNamara is the favorite, they just got beat by Bishop Ireton a few weeks ago. This race is wide open in our eyes. The contenders in the building are Seton, PVI, St. John’s, Ireton and of course McNamara.
Seton could surprise everyone with their style of play. They have lots of playmakers with Makayla Johnson and Nedeya Regala leading their backcourt. Their youthfulness and aggressive style of play make them a scary team to play in the tournament.
PVI is led by Laura Williams but will need plenty of help from their other players for the Panthers to come out on top. They should be able to keep up with teams for the first three quarters and as everyone knows, anything can happen in the fourth.
You can say St. John’s had a down season, but they are still third in the conference. They have five seniors and the more senior leadership you have in the playoffs the better. Tatum Greene and Kendal Walker seem to get to their scoring spots anytime they want. This core group has won championships before and I’m sure Coach Scribner doesn’t want to give up his throne as top dawg in the WCAC so quickly to the new kid on “The Pike.”
Here comes another contender that normally isn’t a conference powerhouse but this year they have to be in the conversation, Bishop Ireton. They go as Nyla Brooks and Amirah Anderson go. Amirah is as consistent as they come, but Nyla is the one. She has the potential to be one of the best players in the country, and we’ll see if she lives up to the billing in the playoffs.
McNamara has not missed a beat with new coach, Ron James, taking over the team this year. No one can dispute what Ron James has done for the girls basketball game locally. He runs powerhouse Team Takeover on the Nike EBYL circuit and now has a foothold in D.C. girls high school basketball. He has taken a team barely ranked in the preseason top 25 nationally (which we see as a total mess up by whoever ranked the teams) to No. 6 in the country. Yes he had players returning, but he never let them slip, except for the Ireton game, which we’ll give him a pass on. And boy did he have returning players.
Starting with Maddy McDaniels, Zhen Craft and a swarm of talent, he has made Mac the place to be. They play this fast up-and-down style, which is perfect for their floor general, Maddy McDaniel, who not only has an unbelievable point guard skillset but is always the toughest player on the court. Zhen Craft compliments Maddy so well — quiet but always gets the job done, inside and outside. Craft seems to do whatever is called upon at a high efficiency rate.
Our prediction is in: St Johns wins! Scribner finds magic this weekend again, led by their senior class, and retains his throne as the coach to beat in the WCAC.
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