Catoctin girls keep rowing, get past scrappy Bears

Dec. 11—Plotting on the sidelines before the start of the fourth quarter, Catoctin's girls basketball team broke out its oar.

They brought it with them to Friday's game against Oakdale as a reminder of their motivational theme this season, "Row The Boat," which was inspired by a book picked out by Cougars coach Amy Entwistle.

The gist is, the Cougars plan to keep rowing as a group this season, no matter the circumstances.

"Whether it's calm water or rapid water," Entwistle said. "And it became rapid out there a couple times tonight."

Especially heading into the final period, when the Cougars held a slim six-point lead against a young but scrappy Oakdale team and had to start playing without standout Emma Wivell, who was having the dislocated thumb on her left hand taped.

But Wivell quickly returned to the game, adding nine points to finish with a game-high 23, and she and the rest of the Cougars came up big down the stretch to pull out a 64-54 win over the host Bears.

"We've had back-to-back games where the fourth quarter was tight," said Entwistle, who recalled her 2-0 team's "Row The Boat" motto. "We came together and we were unified."

Such unification is years in the making for Catoctin's core of longtime seniors, Wivell, Emily Williams, Paige Smith and Lily Gadra (who didn't play because she's going through concussion protocol).

"We've been here for a very long time and we're hungry for wins, we're hungry for a state championship, and that's all we're trying to do this year," Wivell said.

That group played vital roles when the Cougars reached the Class 1A quarterfinals against Coppin Academy in 2019-20.

"These seniors, they've been through a lot," Entwistle said. "Two years ago they're sophomores and they lose a heartbreaker against Coppin Academy by two points in overtime. They continue to work when the spotlight wasn't on these past two years, and what you're seeing is the result of that. It makes me so proud to watch them in practice coaching up our younger players who essentially only played two games last year because of the situation."

There was one such instance of that coaching in Friday's game. During a break in the action in the second quarter, Wivell was giving pointers to Kiley Perhach. Such players might not have big statistical games, but their contributions aren't overlooked.

"Whether they're in for 30 seconds on two minutes, they're giving us everything they have," Enwistle said.

Despite her thumb injury, which she suffered in the season opener against FSK, Wivell finished with 10 rebounds, including crucial ones down the stretch to help thwart Oakdale's comeback attempt. She also had a knack for getting to the foul line, where she hit 12 free throws, including three in the final two minutes.

After the game, Wivell had an ice bag on her thumb. Did it hurt?

"Not when the game started. It was a physical game, so there were definitely times where it got hit and was in a bit of pain," she said. "But the only thing you can do is fight through it."

The Cougars occasionally got a double-digit lead, but the Bears never let the game get out of reach.

"Oakdale's always a scrappy team, we know they're always going to give us their best shot, no matter what the year is, the personnel," Wivell said. "We definitely took one of their best shots there for sure, but with the senior leadership we have this year, we were able to calm ourselves down and play our game."

Emily Williams had 15 points (including a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter), six assists, three steals and six rebounds. Taylor Smith had 14 points.

Sam Blaylock led the Bears with 14 points. She's the only senior on a team that has five freshmen and two sophomores on its roster.

"A very young team, but they're talented and they're hungry and they're going to continue to learn and get better," Bears (1-1) coach Rob Healy said. "I was proud of our kids' fight and the effort, fighting back all game because we dug ourselves a hole."

Brynn Ohlhoff had seven rebounds for Oakdale. Caroline Atwill had four rebounds and three assists, and Blaylock had four rebounds.