Both of Montgomery College’s basketball teams have had winning seasons thus far; the men’s team is currently standing at a record of 18-3 with the women’s at 14-8. Although not their best, January was another solid month of Raptor basketball, and The Advocate’s come to a decision on each team’s Player of the Month.
This year’s men’s team has already surpassed what they accomplished last year as far as the regular season goes. Their 20 wins already surpasses the previous roster’s 14. The Raptors’ depth– or lack thereof– is what limited their success last season. On the contrary, this year’s roster has 14 versatile players who can check in and take a game over on any given night, and the numbers corroborate this.
In January’s eight games, the Raptors went 6-2 with an average PD (point difference) of +10.4. They’re averaging nearly 88 points per game on 44.2% shooting as a team, with five players averaging 10 or more individually. Those players are Franklin Ayissi-Etoh, Mateusz Szpin, Ibrahim Abdulmateen-Robinson, Chris Levy, and Thomas Loughry. Ayissi-Etoh and Loughry are two examples of how elite MC’s reserves are, as they’re averaging double digit points while coming off-the-bench. With that being said, Loughry has been selected as the men’s team’s player of the month.
Thomas Loughry (So.)
8 GP 1 GS | 11.8ppg 2.4rpg 1.6apg 1.0spg 42.0 fg% 36.7 3pt% 81.0 ft% |
Per 36 Minutes
23.6ppg 4.8rpg 3.2apg 2.0spg
Top Performance:
21pts 7/12 fg 7/12 3pt 18min vs Frederick Community College (January 11)
Loughry’s shooting splits improved tremendously from December to January, with his field goal percentage going up six percent, his three point up one, and free throw up fifteen. To make matters more impressive, he did so while nearly doubling his shot volume and improving his points per game average by 47%
“I give credit to my teammates and coaches. All year they’ve continuously told me to shoot the ball… recently they’ve been finding me in the right spots [while] running the offense and getting me the ball when I’m open. I can only thank my guys for being so unselfish,” Loughry explained when asked about his scoring uproar.
MC’s selflessness on the court is renowned, with the playoffs only coming closer and closer, we asked Loughry to speak on the team’s progression this season and approach for the postseason.
“We’ve had at least eight different people lead the team in scoring for a game, and if we want to win nationals we’ve got to keep everyone involved like that. So as we approach the playoffs, we just want to keep getting better each day to gel as a team and [eventually] win nationals.”
Women’s Team
The Women’s team, following a blowout victory over the College of Southern Maryland last Saturday, is on a four-game win streak. Over the course of their last five, they’re averaging a staggering 83.4 points compared to their opponents’ 56.4, giving them an unreal average point difference of +27. The Raptors’ 11-woman rotation is stacked with players who play their respective roles to a T.
Yaheera Williams and Kennedy Clifton are MC’s board-hunters, with both of them averaging more than 12 rebounds per game this season. Promise Whitmore and Daniella McGuthrie regularly provide much-needed scoring off-the-bench, both of which recording three or more games with double-digit points thus far. MC’s scoring leaders are Kennedy Clifton, (12.1ppg) Tiana Carey, (13.3ppg) and The Advocate’s MC Player of the month, Litzy-Lujan Gonzales (17.4ppg).
Litzy Lujan-Gonzales (So.)
8 GP 8 GS | 18.5ppg 4.4rpg 5.8apg 3.9spg 37.2 fg% 32.3 3pt% 72.0 ft% |
Top Performance: 22pts 5rebs 11asts 5stl vs AACC Club (January 18)
22pts
Gonzales, in that aforementioned 54-point victory over Southern Maryland, recorded her MC career-high in points (30) alongside 12 assists and 10 steals, marking the first triple-double of her collegiate career. She dropped her first 30-bomb scoring from all three levels, as she scored ten points in the paint, twelve from beyond the arc, and made eight of her ten attempts from the free throw line. Her aggressiveness while driving is particularly impressive; standing at only 5 ‘3”, most guards her size would settle for far more outside shots, but attacking the basket is a priority of hers.
“Coach always tells me to not [simply] settle for threes. She reminds me to attack the basket and take [mid-range shots] which has helped me improve as a player,” Gonzales explained when asked about her aggressiveness inside.
She averaged an impressive 18.5 points per game throughout January while also seeing increases in her shot percentage and volume, much like Thomas Loughry. The women’s team as a whole made improvements in their performance despite having some of their hardest matchups of the season last month. The Raptors significantly improved their field goal percentage and efficiency net rating, and we asked Gonzales her thoughts on the team’s progression thus far.
“We improved a lot due to being more coachable and prioritizing playing as a team. In the beginning of the season, our chemistry wasn’t as good as it is now, which is very important in basketball… We have three players averaging double-digit points: Tiana, Kennedy, and me. That makes it harder for other teams to match up with us.”
Last season, Gonzales and her older sister, Isabela ran MC’s backcourt. However, with Isabela graduating and now playing guard for the Washington Adventist University Shock, the torch was passed to Litzy to lead this year’s roster, in which she has. This transfer in responsibility has resulted in an increase in Litzy’s stats across the board, so we asked her if she viewed Isabela’s departure as an opportunity to grow as a player.
“Yes. It feels like high school all over again. I played with my sister for three years on Varsity. When she graduated, I scored my 1,000th point my senior season,” she recalled.
Montgomery College’s basketball program is something fierce this year, and students all over are excited to see what’s to come in the final month of the regular season, and eventually playoffs.
