CHS Girls Basketball: Regional Champs

Helen Hochschild
CHS Class of 2023

(4/2020) The Catoctin Girls Basketball team has just finished up a fantastic season with a climactic win against Smithsburg. They became regional champions for the first time since 2006, under the coaching of Amy Entwistle.

Amy Entwistle has been coaching the girls basketball team at Catoctin for sixteen years. She played for her highschool team at Governor Thomas Johnson, and then at Messiah College. In the summer of 2004, she was employed as a P.E. teacher at Thurmont Middle and started coaching girls basketball at Catoctin. She later got a full-time job at Catoctin. Her coach in college used to tell her that "the journey is the goal," and Entwistle certainly carries that idea through her own career as a coach. She believes that the most important thing about playing basketball is learning life lessons that athletes will carry with them forever. She says that "basketball teaches you the importance of consistently doing the little things well, because it is the little things that lead to big things like wins." Entwistle loves that players are forced to make split-second decisions and compete every possession.

Each year, Entwistle and her team choose a theme to apply to their playing and habits. This season, they looked at a book called The Coffee Bean by Jeff Gordon. She explains how different things react to being placed in hot water. A carrot becomes soft; an egg hardens. A coffee bean, however, does not change, but turns the water around it into coffee. The boiling water can represent the adversity that players face, and the different foods, different types of people. Some become weak and others become bitter and hard. Coach Entwistle taught her athletes to stay strong when confronted with challenges and to focus on the controllable; she helped them become coffee beans.

One major challenge the team faced this past season was the loss of players. Entwistle explains that all of the injuries and illnesses seemed to occur around the same time, near the end of the season. There were multiple games in which the team had to push through with very few available players. In their second time playing against Middletown, they played most of the second half with only six players. The second game with Smithsburg was a battle for the number one seed playoffs; it was a crucial game, and only seven players were present. At first, Catoctin struggled, and they were down 21 - 12 by halftime. During the halftime break, they talked about how they needed to be coffee beans. With newfound faith, the team went back out and made a comeback win of 49 - 41.

On February 20th, the girls wrapped up the regular season by defeating Francis Scott Key 51 - 26. They had had five losses and a whopping seventeen wins, which has not occurred since 2006. The team stayed strong and consistent throughout the game. Emily Williams had scored 14; Courtney Eyler, 13 and Emma Wivell, 11. They had been guaranteed number one seed in the regional tournament. The first round was a ‘bye,’ which secures a spot in the next round without having to play. Their first playoff game was against Clear Springs. Clear Springs had entered the match with a record of 6 - 15, and was easily crushed by Catoctin. The Cougars won 55 - 21 and advanced to the regional championship game on March 4th.

Smithsburg was Catoctin’s most formidable opponent. Smithsburg is a well coached team with extremely talented players. According to Entwistle, the two previous seasons had also come down to them and Catoctin. Two years ago, Catoctin had knocked them out of the playoffs to advance to the regional championships, and last year, Smithsburg had knocked out Catoctin to do the same. In this past season, Catoctin had already beat Smithsburg twice in "intense battles," and knew that it would be difficult to accomplish a third time. The lady cougars had prepared well for this match at practice and with film study, and were excited to compete in regionals. They had an incredible first half, scoring seven three pointers and ending with a lead of 35 - 12. Entwistle says that the team was really carried by their strong defense in the second half, and the game ended with Catoctin winning regionals 48 - 33.

The Friday after, they competed in the state quarterfinals against Coppin Academy. Catoctin lost by two after going into overtime. Though this loss was heartbreaking to the team, they were proud to have received the title of regional champs.

Coach Entwistle says that her players were successful because they committed to their roles and were truly unselfish - they did not care who got the spotlight. These girls supported each other through thick and thin and carried each other through to the final win.

Several players were selected for All-Conference Teams. Emma Wivell and Courtney Eyler were selected for CMC Gambrill 1st team, Emily Williams for 2nd team, and Chayney Barnhart and senior Madi Tobery for Honorable Mention.

The team is very fortunate to have wrapped up the season before the break implemented on the sixteenth of March. It was announced around 4:00 pm the Thursday before. Lois Strickland, coach of track and field for both boys and girls, says that she and her athletes had been waiting expectantly for the Governor’s announcement during practice that day. Many other student-athletes had received the message during scrimmages or games. All were disappointed to hear the news, and afraid of how it would impact spring sports. The break is supposed to last for two weeks, but Strickland is not confident that the spring seasons will have the chance to resume. She worries that the break will be lengthened since the spread of COVID-19 has not yet started to subside.

These developments are especially worrisome for seniors on the spring teams. One of the worst possibilities is that of the senior athletes losing their last chance to compete for Catoctin High. Many senior athletes are not planning on competing after high school, and are worried that they will never get a chance to play the sport again. For those who would like to compete at the next level, this season is their last chance to impress and garner the attention of college coaches. If the break is extended or if the season does not resume at all, that hope will be lost.

In the best case scenario, the teams will be back and in good shape within a few weeks. Many coaches are messaging their student-athletes in some way to organize at-home workouts. Coach Strickland uses "TeamApp," a platform which allows teams to communicate using a personalized app. She has her athletes do cardio workouts and core exercises at home several times a week to stay in shape. This should make it so that athletes can easily get back into practice without having to make up for lost time, provided the season resumes quickly.

Some players from the boys tennis team have been able to practice their hitting in the Mount Saint Mary’s courts, across the highway from the university. However, as events surrounding COVID-19 unfold and more public places shut down, it will become more difficult for athletes to practice techniques specific to their sports. According to one tennis player, the coach (Rob Merki) would like his players to hit when they get a chance, but prioritize safety above all, and avoid congregating to practice.

All of the coaches are aware that this is an unprecedented time. Though trying to make the best of this situation surrounding sports, they are concerned above all for the well-being of their players, and want them to take time for themselves and stay safe.