The women’s varsity basketball team defeated Jackson-Reed in the District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) A division tournament semifinal at Georgetown University on Thursday, Feb. 27.
GDS was seeded 11th in the tournament, while Jackson-Reed came into the game as the second seed. The matchup was a rematch of last year’s DCSAA A division championship, which GDS won.
GDS was promoted to the higher AA division of both the Independent School League (ISL) and the DCSAA after winning the lower division of both in 2024. However, the team played in the lower division of the DCSAA this season because they lost five players from last year’s team. This year, the team had a 5–19 record in the regular season and lost to Bullis in the first round of the ISL AA tournament.
“We’re the 11th seed. I don’t think anyone really expected it, but we definitely are confident in ourselves,” freshman Jozi McDuffie said. “It’s been a little bit of a rough regular season, but in this tournament we played really well.”
Jozi McDuffie scored the first two points of the game, and both teams traded baskets early on. A foul from GDS led Jackson-Reed to make a free-throw, but Jozi McDuffie grabbed a rebound and led a fastbreak through Jackson-Reed’s defense to give GDS another basket, to put GDS up 6–3.
The first quarter remained close, with Jackson-Reed delivering a layup and earning a foul to tie the score at 6–6 with a free throw. Jackson-Reed subsequently stole the ball and powered through GDS’s defense to get a layup, earning their first lead of the game. McKnight drew another foul on the next play, making her second free throw attempt.
Jackson-Reed extended their lead after winning possession in an intense wrestle for the ball, but Jozi McDuffie earned a foul and made both of her free throws to close in on Jackson-Reed’s lead and make the score 12–11.In the final seconds of the first quarter, Jozi McDuffie intercepted a pass from Jackson-Reed and sprinted down the open court for a two-pointer, giving GDS a crucial 13–12 lead.
Senior Kesi McDuffie opened the second quarter with a steal and a layup, growing GDS’s lead to 15–12. Jackson-Reed quickly answered with a layup of their own. Jackson-Reed rebounded to gain possession and capitalized with a quick layup to take the lead.
Freshman Liya Fairfax made one free throw to tie the score at 16, but Jackson-Reed responded with back-to-back three-pointers and two free throws to extend their lead to 24–16. Each team scored twice after returning from a timeout, with McKnight scoring both baskets for GDS, but Jackson-Reed closed the half leading 28–20.
“We were doing a very good job, but our main thing that we had to be concerned about in the second half was rebounding,” senior Evelyn Chen said. “In the second quarter we let them get too many offensive rebounds, which is why we were down going into the second half.”
Jackson-Reed continued to dominate the scoreboard in the third quarter, with their lead growing to 31–20 before Kesi McDuffie and McKnight scored two points each, bringing the score to 31–24. Jackson-Reed quickly responded with three consecutive two-point shots, putting GDS behind by 13 points.
“At the end of the third quarter Pam [Stanfield] called the timeout, and we were down [37–24]. I think there was probably about a minute and a half left,” Chen said. “What she told us in the huddle was to get three stops and score two points and the fourth quarter will be a lot easier, and we went out and did that.”
Following the timeout, Jozi McDuffie made a three-pointer, and Chen scored two more points to bring the score to 37–29. The quarter ended with Jackson-Reed ahead, 37–31, after another basket from Jozi McDuffie.
“A turning point in our strategy was our defense,” Kesi McDuffie explained. “We started in house, which is like a press, and we ended up going into a 2–3, which is just more like a zone without trapping, which helped us conserve energy to push through to the fourth quarter.”
Jackson-Reed opened the final quarter with possession, but McKnight got an early steal to give Chen a three-pointer, who scored another two points to cut down the deficit to a single point.
A Jackson-Reed free-throw made it 38–36 before Fairfax delivered a layup that tied the score. The final quarter remained close, with the teams exchanging buckets to tie the score at 42.
GDS finally regained the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter with five quick points by Jozi McDuffie. Jackson-Reed scored two two-pointers in the final 30 seconds to cut the lead down to one. Jackson-Reed earned a foul and scored one free-throw to close out the fourth quarter tied at 47 and send the game to overtime.
GDS quickly took the lead in overtime, with Kesi McDuffie scoring a two-pointer. However, after Jackson-Reed committed a foul, Fairfax fell and injured her shoulder, halting play temporarily before she was subbed out of the game. Freshman Lindsay Fuzesi went to the free-throw line as play resumed and made both shots.
“The biggest highlight would be when Lindsay [Fuzesi] came into the game and she made two free throws. That really helped us in overtime,” Kesi McDuffie said. “When she stepped on the court she was really nervous, but she executed well.”
Fouls and the ensuing free-throws from both teams brought the score to 54–50, with GDS narrowly ahead. With ten seconds left in the game, Jackson-Reed scored a two-point shot, but it would not be enough. Two free throws from Jozi McDuffie sealed the Hoppers’ 56–52 win.
Jozi McDuffie led the team with 32 points and 11 rebounds, her career high.
The win sent GDS to the DCSAA A championship game for the second year in a row. They look to become back-to-back champions after defeating Jackson-Reed to raise the trophy in 2024. The team also won the championship in 2022, a championship run that Kesi McDuffie and Chen were part of.
“Our regular season games were just a lot harder [this year],” Chen said. “It’s very hard, especially for the freshman, to lose 19 games and lose the majority of your season, and I think that this just really shows that we are good enough.”
“What has pushed us through this entire season is our determination,” Senior Kesi McDuffie added. “Nobody thought that we were going to make it this far, and we made it that far.”
GDS will face off against Eastern High School in the DCSAA A division state championship game at George Washington University on Sunday, March 2 at 1 p.m.