Strasburg dethrones Clarke County, piles up 24 victories under Morgan

By Craig Juer -- Daily Staff Writer

STRASBURG — The chinks in the armor were noticeable.

Clarke County's streak of 31-straight district games was still intact, and the Eagles bore the twinkle of state title rings on their fingers. But the signs of a drop-off were obvious. The Eagles had suffered three losses in 13 games, and after Stonewall Jackson beat Clarke, 51-45, on Dec. 21, Generals players insisted privately to friends on the Rams that Strasburg was the superior Bull Run District team.

Still, the Rams were reluctant to accept that they were a better basketball team than Clarke County.

"Clarke County has been the top dog in our district forever," sophomore forward Jenna Smoot said. "They killed us the past couple years, and we really needed confidence going into those games to prove to everyone that we could do it, and prove it to ourselves."

Joel Morgan succeeded in convincing his team that it was, indeed, the best in the district, and led it to a 48-26 win over Clarke County on Jan. 22, and eventually a school-best 24-2 record. For that, he is The Northern Virginia Daily's Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

"We hyped up the defense in our practice and got all over each other and tried to simulate what they were going to do to us," senior guard Cassidy Weitman said. "He just wanted to make sure that we knew he believed that we were the better team, and that we definitely had the chance, if we played how we could, to come out and take the first game of the series."

The Rams' win over Clarke County in their first matchup, in Strasburg, was nothing short of conclusive. Senior Eagles captain Tae Payton scored just nine points against sophomore guard Jaclyn Ayers. Clarke County had just 13 points at the half. Eagles coach Tim Lawrence disgustedly took his starters out of the game for most of the third quarter and part of the fourth.

"We got punched in the mouth and backed down," Lawrence told the Daily after the game, adding that it was an "old-fashioned whipping."

The Rams weren't cocky entering the game, but neither were they scared.

"We were so nervous, but at the same time we thought we could win," Smoot said. "We thought we were the better team."

It was a watershed moment in the season for the Rams, who split the other two games against Clarke County and won the district before losing a disappointing elimination game to George Mason in the Region B quarterfinals.

Morgan deflected praise for his role in the Rams' change in attitude.

"I don't know that I've had a year where kids have come to practice each day with as good a focus and as good an effort as we got from them most days," he said. "That was one of the most impressive things I saw from our kids."

Morgan said that the dedicated demeanor his players had in practice was what allowed him to be more easygoing with them this year than he'd been in years past.

"When you come out and you give the effort and you've got the focus that your coaches want in practice, what you're trying to get done gets a lot easier," he explained. "And in turn, I think maybe it seems that I'm a little more relaxed and all of that. Like I always tell them, winning cures a lot of your ills."

And winning against arch-rival Clarke County is the best tonic in the whole medicine cabinet. The Rams had the talent all year to best the Eagles, but it took their coach to show it to them.

"He just kept telling us over and over again that we were a good team and tried to get our confidence up, because this season was so much different than the previous seasons we've had," Smoot said. "He just kept telling us, 'I know you can do it, you guys are good enough to compete at this level.'"

* Contact Craig Juer at cjuer@nvdaily.com

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