Trojans Eliminate Coyotes from Postseason

The Coyotes were hoping to go into Gaithersburg for Wednesday’s sectional final playoff game and erase recent history by beating the Trojans for the first time this season. However, the young talented Gaithersburg team had other plans and defeated Clarksburg 84-63.

A 27 point second quarter staked Gaithersburg, and the Trojans did not look back. Gaithersburg had four players in double-digits and were led by freshman Jao Ituka with 22 points, on nine field goals, and four foul shots. Gaithersburg senior Kevin Neal followed close behind with 21 points, on eight buckets and five from the stripe. Senior Jordan Graham and sophomore Chris Kouemi added 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Coyotes also had four players in double-digits. Clarksburg was led by senior Stephen Armstrong with 18 points, on four field goals, and four free throws. Senior Rae Thompson added 14 points, including three from beyond the arc, and fellow seniors Diven Wallington and Alex Behzadi each had 12 points.

With the win, Gaithersburg improve to 19-4 on the season and will advance to play 21-2 Bethesda Chevy-Chase. The Barons defeated Walt Whitman High School on Wednesday by a score of 65-60. The game is scheduled for 1:00 pm at Richard Montgomery High School.

On the girls’ side, the Lady Coyotes lost their sectional championship game on Thursday night falling 76-40 to Richard Montgomery. The Lady Coyotes finished the season with a 17-7 record. Richard Montgomery improves to 23-1 and will play the 20-4 B-CC girls at 3:30 pm on Saturday at Richard Montgomery for the right to go to College Park and the state final four.

Captions:

Top: Gaithersburg freshman Jao Ituka (25) shoots a jumper during Wednesday night’s playoff game. Ituka had 22 points in the victory.

Next: Clarksburg senior Stephen Armstrong (23) finished out his career at Clarksburg leading the team in scoring with 18 points in his last game.

Photos by Kim Grimes for Germantown Pulse.