The past few months have been memorable both on and off the court for the girls’ basketball team.

This past November, senior center Chelsea Craig signed her National Letter of Intent to play Division I basketball at the University of Delaware. On Feb. 9, head coach Maggie Dyer gave birth to Emery Downs Dyer, her second child. To top it off, the Patriots clinched the 4A West division title for the third consecutive year after a win over rival Churchill.

On Feb. 20, the Patriots concluded their superb regular season with a win over Sherwood on Senior Night. Craig had a great send-off, totalling 12 points and a dominating 20 rebounds to lead the Pats.

The squad finished with an 18-4 record and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. They hope to have Dyer back soon, as she’s been at home nursing her baby.

“We think that we’ll be able to fare fine without her and hopefully she’ll be back in time for the playoffs,” Craig said. “I know she’s going to be rooting for us even though she’s not there.”

On Feb. 17, Wootton took down Springbrook, 47-34. Senior Sarah Bolmer led the way with 15 points to lead all scorers.

Closing the season with two wins was big for the girls following a 58-74 defeat at the hands of powerhouse Paint Branch, which defeats opponents by an average of 47 points, on Feb. 13. The game remained close until the fourth quarter, so the Patriots showed that they could compete with the top-tier teams in the region. In a slow-paced, low scoring game, the Patriots were able to pull out a close victory against Churchill on Feb. 10, winning by a final score of 35-33.

The key play was senior Sarah Bolmer’s steal with ten seconds left that led to her knocking down two clutch free throws to ice the game.

Craig totaled 20 rebounds that were very important in a defensive-oriented game, while sophomore Jessica Welch knocked down three 3-pointers that helped her total 13 points.

“The girls’ teamwork and drive to be successful has been rewarded, as we’ve won back-to-back division titles,” assistant coach Robert Healy said. “That shows what kind of a program Coach Dyer has built here.”

With an 18-4 overall record, the team will look to capitalize on their first round bye.
In the playoffs, the team is in the 4A West #1 bracket, where they’ll have to potentially get by #1 seed Gaithersburg and #3 Northwest, if they can get there.

On Feb. 6, the girls triumphed over Richard Montgomery, 56-46, in a game that seemed more like a tune-up for the main event against Churchill. The win was big for Wootton after a loss to Northwest. Flinchum nearly had a triple-double, recording 24 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 blocks, while Craig added 17 boards. Prior to the Northwest loss, the Lady Pats reeled off three straight wins, outscoring Q.O., Whitman, and Walter Johnson by a combined 54 points.

The emergence of the four sophomores--Flinchum, Jessica Welch, Iris Cheng and Gillian Sissman--has been key to their impressive season. Flinchum’s improvement from five points per game last season to 13.1 this one is the best the team, and she also contributes 11 rebounds and three blocks per game.

“With all the pieces we have, we can definitely go farther than we did last year (the regional semifinals),” said Flinchum.