Taking the Next Step: Seneca Valley Looks to Capitalize Upon Last Year’s Season
When Seneca Valley Girls Basketball Coach Ali Hashemzadeh came in last season, his main goal was to be competitive. Now as the team returns four starters from a .500 record last year, the expectations have drastically changed. “We want to make it deep…
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Continue ReadingWhen Seneca Valley Girls Basketball Coach Ali Hashemzadeh came in last season, his main goal was to be competitive. Now as the team returns four starters from a .500 record last year, the expectations have drastically changed. “We want to make it deep in the playoffs this year and win the games we have to win, but also snag some of those “iffy” games on our schedule.” Said Coach Ali. Last year, the Screaming Eagles lost in the first round to Damascus, but because of how tight the 2A West division was, their seeding in the playoffs was determined by a coin flip, a rare but fair way established in the MPSSAA State By-Laws.
Coach Ali lost starting Point Guard Jessica Jones to graduation but is looking to Rising Seniors Jasia Oliver and Hannah Himes to carry the team. “Both Jasia and Hannah are third year players on Varsity and I am looking for both of them to be the leaders of this team and lean on them when it is crunch time.” Jasia has been the leading scorer the past two seasons and is on pace to hit 1,000 careers points at Seneca Valley, usually a hard feat to accomplish in public High Schools. Jasia will look to receive some more athletic scholarships for basketball during the season. Hannah Himes is a triple athlete at Seneca Valley and is one of the best on ball defenders on the team. ” We need her to lock down the best player on the other team night in and night out, her on ball pressure is tremendous for our confidence.” Said Coach Ali.
Rising Senior #11 Jasia Oliver will be leaned on tremendously during the season.
Coach Ali went into her rising Juniors and potentially deep bench for the upcoming season and is very excited about the opportunity for the underclassmen to get game experience and mature. ” I have a couple of underclassmen in Ella Teal and MJ Jalloh that will fill some voids for us but I am excited about our front-court presence this season.” What coach Ali is referring to is his two post players in Bryanna Barber and Brianna Dorsey. Although their first names are spelled different, combined can potentially be the best front court combo in the county. Bryanna averaged 15 points per games last year as a Sophomore and had multiple blocks per game while Brianna has a smooth mid-range jump-shot and a great back to the basket presence.
Rising Junior Bryanna Barber #50 attacking the basket in their first-round playoff game at Damascus.
While the goal for the Screaming Eagles is to have a record about .500 and make a deep run in the playoffs, Coach Ali looked back on how last years team grew as a whole after a couple of close games that they loss and how that will help this team be ready for those close games. “We lost to a good Rockville team in overtime in the middle of the season as well as a couple of top 4A schools like Gaithersburg and Richard Montgomery by 10 points or less, and I think those losses will be stepping stones for us this season because we have been through it, we were right there till the end.” With the new schedule the Screaming Eagles will start off with a scrimmage against Richard Montgomery then playing Bethesda Chevy Chase (last years 4A West Region Champ) and as always their rival Northwest. Separated by one mile, the rivalry is strong in all sports between the two schools. As I finished my conversation with Coach Ali and discussed how high school sports can be competitive, he finished by saying,”For some of my players, basketball can be a new thing to them, so my expectation is to build character in my girls, but I also want basketball to be fun for them.”
Key Players to Watch:
Jasia Oliver #11 Senior Guard
Hannah Himes #13 Senior Guard
Brianna Dorsey #41 Junior Forward
Bryanna Barber #50 Junior Center