West Springfield coach Bill Gibson's fourth region title as Spartans coach Saturday may have been his most rewarding.

At the beginning of the season, Gibson was investigated for alleged recruiting violations after junior Janielle Dodds and Dominique Mazzuchi transferred into West Springfield from W.T. Woodson and O'Connell, respectively.

The well-publicized investigation along with lofty expectations placed upon his team made for a pressure-packed season.

So after West Springfield rallied and defeated Chantilly, 62-55, last Saturday, he said the season has been "pretty trying on us, mentally and physically.'' The Spartans host Central Region runner-up Petersburg in a Group AAA state tournament quarterfinal this Saturday at Lake Braddock.

Gibson won region titles in 1997 and 1999 at West Springfield, when Kara Lawson, now a junior at Tennessee, played for the team. He won his first region title in 1992, when Julie Wight and Jen Terry, the school's second-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder all-time, respectively, behind Lawson, starred for the Spartans.

"[This year] is different because of, obviously, all the controversy some of the papers have built up, and that was a lot of adversity for the kids to deal with, as well as myself,'' Gibson said. "[I had to get] the kids to believe in me and believe in themselves and believe in team, and that we had to do it.

"Sometimes adversity can bring you together, and that's what I feel it did. It helped bring us closer together because the kids get along great, they really do. It's as tight-knit a group as I've ever had.''

Hitting the boards
Chantilly, which often uses a four-guard offense, got out to a big first-half lead by holding its own on the boards against a taller Spartans team. The Chargers held a 17-14 rebounding edge at halftime. Rebounding on the defensive end helped start a transition game led by junior guard Alena Koshansky, who had 17 of her game-high 21 points in the first half. Koshansky was voted Northern Region Tournament MVP.

However, West Springfield did a better job in that department in the second half, outrebounding Chantilly, 11-7, and turning a couple offensive rebounds into points.

When Chantilly's Caitlyn Gorski came off the court, frustrated after picking up her fourth foul in the second half, she told Chargers coach John Kelly what he already knew: The team needed to do a better job boxing out.

When asked if anything turned the game around for the Spartans, sophomore Sarah Flannagan, who scored a team-high 14 points, talked about rebounding.

"Defensively, we weren't boxing out at all on rebounds,'' Flannagan said. "Chantilly got a lot of easy rebounds and easy putbacks. Second half, we all wanted it, and we worked harder.''

Gaining experience
Of the three seniors Kelly graduates at the end of the season, only one, guard Kimi Argy, starts. So he knows the experience some of his younger players got in pressure situations bodes well for the future. One of them, 6-foot-1 freshman Claire Blevins, hit a pair of free throws with 41.9 seconds remaining, pulling Chantilly within two at 57-55.

The Chargers travel to face Central Region champion Meadowbrook Saturday in a 5 p.m. state tournament quarterfinal.

"We need to learn how to handle pressure in the last three minutes of the ball game - something this big,'' Kelly said. "Having [Blevins] step up out of nowhere and hit foul shots like that, that will stay with her for a few more years.''