Dwight Trimmer is used to winning state titles in basketball, having two under his belt from glory days at Robinson. Though it’s a couple of years later and he’s coaching his second team since leaving the Rams, the first-year Mount Vernon girls head coach came within a sniff of the district crown.
Edison pushed past Mount Vernon in the championship game, 77-61, to mark the fifth consecutive year the Lady Eagles have been crowned district champions.
The state runner-up of the last two seasons, Edison featured the National District’s Player of the Year in Adria Crawford, the Defensive Player of the Year in sophomore guard Myisha Goodwin and Coach of the Year, Dianne Lewis. With an undefeated run through the National District regular season schedule, the championship game might have only seemed like a formality.
However, Edison was on the wrong end of the scoreboard as Mount Vernon burst out to a second quarter lead.
“I knew we had some things going against us,” Lewis said. “It’s their court, their floor that they are comfortable with, they got the home bench, they got the home uniforms and so in my opinion we came in at a disadvantage in that manner. They were the underdog, so they had nothing to lose. We knew they were going to come hard at us the first few minutes. We got out of our jitters, calmed down and played our game.”
Without jitters, the Lady Eagles quickly returned to form, en route to grabbing a three-point halftime lead. Crawford, named to the all-tournament team following the game, scored 18 of her game-high 33 points in the second quarter.
“She kept us in the game second quarter on the boards,” Lewis said.
Crawford, who has signed with Georgetown, shot 90 percent from the free throw line, hitting on 18-of-20 attempts, and helping Edison assume control.
“I guess it’s a mental thing so I just wanted to come out there this game; my teammates were encouraging me and they were behind me,” Crawford said.
Goodwin stole the spotlight in the third quarter, hitting on consecutive three-point shots en route to 14 points.
“She is phenomenal,” Lewis said. “In my opinion the best point guard in this area, we can’t do it without her…she’s priceless.”
Senior guard/forward Chasity Clayton, who signed with Florida State, finished with 18 points.
Mount Vernon, which was riding a season-high six-game winning streak heading into the title game, was led by senior forward Kaycie Day, who scored 13 points and was also named to the all-tournament team. She was the lone Major named to the first-team all-district squad. Sophomore guard Tracy King was named to the second team, while fellow sophomore Jasmine McDonald garnered all-defensive team honors.
“We played hard and they just scored more points,” Day said.
<b>MOUNT VERNON</b> dropped a 66-48 opening round contest to W.T. Woodson, the three seed from the Liberty District at home on Monday. The Majors ended the season with a 15-10 record, a three-win improvement from last season. It’s the second time since 2004 that the Majors had eclipsed the 15-win mark.
<i>—Eric J. Gilmore also contributed to this story.</i>