West Springfield guard Amy Berglund grabbed an offensive rebound during the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game at West Potomac and attempted a putback just a few feet from the basket. The shot rimmed out, leading to a groan from the Spartan crowd.
Berglund, on the other hand, smiled.
“[O]f course I missed that one,” she said.
Berglund wasn’t happy that she missed a gimmie. But on a night when the Spartan senior was otherwise unstoppable, No. 25 understood the irony in her lone misfire.
Berglund connected on 13 of 14 field-goal attempts and scored a career-high 30 points as the West Springfield girls’ basketball team remained undefeated with an 80-37 victory over West Potomac on Jan. 14.
Berglund, a 5-foot-9 guard, made her first 13 field-goal attempts, eight of which were mid-range jumpers or perimeter shots. She went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line and made both of her 3-point attempts. Berglund’s final attempt after a night of sharpshooting resulted in her missing one of her easier opportunities and receiving a reaction from the crowd.
Berglund, who surpassed 1,000 career points this season, said getting off to a hot start gave her confidence.
“It’s huge,” she said. “If you make your first couple, you feel like you can make any shot.”
West Springfield head coach Bill Gibson said Berglund added the 3-point shot to her arsenal after scoring nearly 400 points as a junior and shooting 52 percent from the floor.
“She has good shot selection,” Gibson said, “and she’s a good shooter.”
Berglund scored 10 points in the first quarter, including a transition bucket with 2:34 remaining that gave West Springfield a 20-0 lead. The Spartans led 23-2 at the end of the period and 42-8 at the end of the first half.
“If you make your first couple, you feel like you can make any shot.”
--- West Springfield guard Amy Berglund
West Springfield twice led by 40 points in the third quarter. Berglund’s three-point play with 3:53 left in the period capped an 8-0 run and gave the Spartans a 52-12 advantage. Less than a minute later, Berglund knocked down a jumper to give West Springfield a 54-14 lead.
“She’s amazing,” West Potomac head coach Kenny Farmer said. “… She can flat-out shoot the ball.”
The loss dropped West Potomac’s record to 8-5.
Sophomore forward Maura D’Anna scored 11 points for West Springfield and sophomore guard Jasmine Taylor finished with seven. Sophomore guard Shelby Haynes, junior forward Emily Reba and junior guard Sadie Shroeder each had six.
Tuesday’s win improved West Springfield’s record to 13-0. Gibson said the maturation of sophomores D’Anna, Haynes and Taylor, who played varsity ball as freshmen, has led to improvement for the Spartans. Last season, West Springfield lost in the Patriot District tournament semifinals, ending its streak of three consecutive district titles. The Spartans finished with a 21-5 record, ending their year with a two-point loss to Centreville in the regional quarterfinals.
West Springfield reached the state tournament in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
“Our team goal has always been to go to states,” Berglund said, “but we’ve got to take it one step at a time.”
West Springfield will host Woodson at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17.