Suffocating defense fuels Chiefs' success

One sequence early in the fourth quarter of last Thursday’s Dominion District game against Clover Hill perfectly encapsulated the attitude Larry Starr has instilled in his Monacan High girls basketball players.

The Chiefs led by 24 points and were well on their way to maintaining an unbeaten record against district competition. But that mattered little to Micaela Parson after she knocked the ball away from the Cavaliers’ Bria Carlisle near the midcourt stripe.

Carlisle scrambled to retrieve the ball. So did Parson, launching herself headlong onto the floor before alertly flipping the ball to teammate Raven Williams for a breakaway layup.

Parson’s incredible effort put an exclamation point on Monacan’s 61-31 victory and spoke volumes about the commitment the Chiefs have made to the full-court pressure defense that has stifled so many opponents this season.

“The team just plays with so much heart from beginning to end,” Starr said. “These girls don’t care if we’re up by 40 in the last two minutes; that’s the mentality they play with all the time.”

Starr said Monacan plays up tempo on both ends of the floor out of necessity. The Chiefs use their quickness, athleticism and perimeter shooting to make up for the fact that they’re one of the smallest teams in the Central Region.

5-10 senior Rebecca Deichman, the tallest player in Monacan’s regular rotation, is out for the season with a knee injury. At 5-8 and 5-7, respectively, versatile wings Williams and Gabby Harris are the closest thing these Chiefs have to “bigs.”

Still, Monacan’s defense was at its relentless best against Clover Hill, which had one distinct advantage (in the paint) but too often was unable to get the ball into the hands of its leading scorer.

Skye Jefferson, a 6-1 center, finished with a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, but Monacan’s vertically-challenged lineup made her work hard for everything she got.

“That’s been our whole focus,” Clover Hill coach Jim Wahrman said. “We’ve been most successful when we get the ball inside to her. When she gets the ball, she can do some terrific things.”

Wahrman, who led Prince Edward’s girls squad to a Group A state title in 1999, acknowledged it was difficult to simulate the quickness and aggressiveness of Monacan’s defense in practice.

“Until you actually see it in person, it is kind of hard to prepare for,” Wahrman added.

The Chiefs did such a good job of denying Clover Hill’s players access to the ball, they made it a nightmare for the Cavaliers to even get the ball inbounds. And that was just the first step; actually getting it across the midcourt stripe to prevent a 10-second violation was a chore even for the sure-handed Carlisle.

“I do feel bad [for the other team] sometimes, but we just do what our coach tells us to do,” Williams said. “We’re just trying to win.”

Since defense is key to Monacan’s success, Starr reserves most of his intensity for when the Chiefs don’t have the ball.

Every time Clover Hill managed to get the ball inbounds, he called out “Too easy!,” then loudly exhorted his players to “Deny! Deny!”

Starr’s message is clear: at Monacan, you either play defense or you don’t play.

“It doesn’t matter who you are. He won’t hesitate to pull you,” said Harris, who earned a brief trip to the bench after the player she was assigned to guard scored two quick buckets.

For most of the game, putting the ball in the basket was a much more monumental task for the host Cavaliers.

“You can do a good job against their pressure in the first quarter. You can do a good job in the second quarter. By the third quarter, you start getting sick of it. Then in the fourth quarter, when you’re tired, it’s really tough,” Wahrman said.

“There was a stretch in the third quarter where we played pretty good. Mentally, they just wear you down.”