St. John’s fueled by star power, depth and chemistry in run to No. 1 ranking – Washington Post

Out of breath and on their last legs, St. Johns seniors Asia McCray and Aisha Sheppard turned to each other and thought about quitting before reminding themselves why they were running hills in the scorching summer heat.

Were just like, no, McCray said, recalling the conditioning session behind the Northwest Washington school. This right there is going to help us push through in the playoffs and in the championship. Our hard work were putting in now is going to pay off.

The hard work did pay off with a historic season resulting in St. Johns earning a No. 1 spot in The Posts final Top 20 ranking. The Cadets (31-2)snapped Paul VIs 37-game win streak in January, then dethroned thethree-time defending champions to wintheWashingtonCatholicAthletic Conferencetitle before beating Georgetown Visitation to repeat as D.C. State Athletic Association champions.

We just always talked about how this season was going to be our season, and we went through all this work just to be in that moment, said McCray, a fourth-year player.

St. Johns relied on a mix of star power, depth and chemistry to capture its first WCAC title since 2013. Sheppard, a Virginia Tech commit, emerged as the Cadets primary scorer while sophomore center Malu Tshitenge-Mutombo anchored a dominant defense. The team took on a challenging national schedule, traveling to Phoenix for a December tournament and dropping the first game to Clovis West, 75-58.

That loss proved to be a turning point, said junior guard Sydney Wood. After the game, the coaches said there were two ways for the players to respond: give up or fight back. They chose the latter, winning the three remaining tournament games and 25 of their final 26 games in total.

That attitude kind of translated to how we fought back in games and adversity throughout the whole season, Wood said.

The final hurdle came in the playoffs. With senior guard Niya Beverley (ankle) sidelined for most of the tournament, St. Johns didnt skip a beat. JuniorJaylin Carodine stepped up on the defensive end, sophomore Carly Rivera shouldered a heavier load on offense, and the Cadets asserted themselves as the D.C. areas top team.

I think we realized its going to make it harder. Were always getting everybodys best shot night in and night out, Wood said. But its something we need to accept and use it to up our play every night.

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St. John's fueled by star power, depth and chemistry in run to No. 1 ranking - Washington Post