Week 11 Winner: Trinity Catholic Girls Basketball
Following a 22-3 season and boasting one of the top junior guards in the state in
Shambria Washington,
Trinity Catholic (Ocala) had much promise heading into the 2013-14 girls basketball season.
Even though the Celtics started 0-2 and 3-4, there was no cause for alarm.
Washington
has been on a tear and Trinity Catholic has ripped off six straight
wins, including triumphs last week over The Villages Charter (66-30) and
Hudson (51-41).
For their efforts, the Celtics have been named the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
"We
are working on playing together more as a team and focusing on lots and
lots of defense," said head coach Greg Long. "We have a very
inexperienced team — only one player on our team has played in more than
five varsity basketball games. So, we are working very hard and
trusting each other."
Washington, a 5-foot-7 guard, is averaging a whopping 28.2 points per game, which ranks second in the state.
She
isn't just a scorer. She also averages 7.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and
5.3 steals per game. Washington has scored at least 30 in seven games
for the now 9-4 Celtics.
Her high game is 41 in a 60-53 win
over Citrus on Nov. 19. She's made 44 percent of her shots, including 33
of 92 on 3-pointers, and she recorded two triple-doubles this month —
one being a quadruple double.
In a 52-27 win over Fort White, she
had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and in the win over Hudson
she had 30 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.
"(Washington)
is not only our leading scorer, she is the team's leader," said Long.
"She has worked hard for every accomplishment she's gotten. It is a very
big task for a junior to be the only one left from last season who has
experience. Shambria does everything that we're asking of her and the
girls look up to her as their leader."
The Celtics have much more in a pair of freshmen,
Janae Morrison (7.5 ppg) and
Rebekah Di Lavore (6.1), and sophomore
Savanna Freimuth (4.5).
Lavore leads the team in rebounds at 8.1 per game and Morrison is a superb 3-point shooter with 12 makes thus far.
After a 55-51 win at Ridgewood Monday, the Celtics next play Dec. 26-28 at the Palatka Christmas Tournament.
"We
want to make it into the state playoffs and win our district," said
Long. "All our games are preparing us for that state game."
