Rice once more was the selfless focus of the Sidwell offense, a job she has perfected. She completed with 10 factors and 10 assists Sunday because the No. 1 Quakers earned the primary state title in program historical past to wrap up a dominant marketing campaign.
In a season by which Sidwell moved to the highest of the D.C. space and the nation, the Quakers beat each native opponent by double digits.
“That’s so important to us,” Rice stated. “Always great to go out of town, but we had to assert our dominance here at home. To win the league, to win states — that’s what we’ve always talked about.”
When they performed on this championship sport in 2020, falling to St. John’s, the Quakers regarded like a younger staff destined to rise to native prominence. Instead, they took the pandemic yr to develop right into a juggernaut and have performed this season at a stage nicely past these aspirations. Even nonetheless, Sunday introduced a significant milestone.
“For any high school team, the overall goal is to win the state championship,” junior ahead Khia Miller stated. “Day-to-day, we don’t think about being the number-one-ranked team in the country — we think about winning a championship.”
Against the No. 8 Cubs (23-5), Sidwell (28-0) slowly took management. After a low-scoring first quarter, the Quakers clamped down and received out in transition to begin constructing their lead. They gave up simply 4 factors within the second and led by 13 at halftime. Sophomore guard Leah Harmon completed with a game-high 24 factors.
“We feel we could’ve won that game a few years ago,” Miller stated. “But [the loss] makes it even better to come back as an older team and win it now.”
While the chance of a nationwide event stays, Sunday was Rice’s remaining sport with Sidwell within the D.C. space. A star on the soccer area and the basketball court docket, she has garnered the kind of buzz not often seen at the highschool stage. After Friday’s DCSAA semifinal victory at Georgetown University, the UCLA commit spent half-hour wading by a crowd of younger followers asking for an autograph or an image.
Rice joined this program as a promising prospect able to elevate it to the highest of the Independent School League, which the Quakers hadn’t gained outright in a while. She will go away Sidwell having helped take it as excessive because it may go.
“I’m going to miss the atmosphere, the fans,” she stated. “I can’t wait to come back to D.C. as one of them and watch this team.”
