Girls' Basketball Player of the Year: James Wood's Makayla Firebaugh

You wouldn’t know it from the stoic way she plays, but James Wood’s Makayla Firebaugh really hates to lose.

Oh, her teammates know how fiery Firebaugh can be.

They see it in practice when they play a game called knockout, a shooting and speed drill.

The Colonels do their best to knock out Firebaugh in the drill.

“She does not do well with that and the team knows that so they really try [to knock her out],” James Wood coach Krista Crites said with a chuckle. “We just like to see her reaction when she does lose. We all try, just to watch her reaction when she doesn’t win. She’s hitting the ball across the gym.”

It’s the kind of competitiveness and drive that’s there when the Colonels play and what has made Firebaugh already a record-breaker in James Wood history.

The 5-foot-10 junior broke a pair of school scoring marks and averaged a whopping 24.5 points per game on the way to becoming the first Colonel since 1990 to win The Winchester Star’s Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.

Firebaugh scored a program record 612 points, including a record-breaking 40-point game, as she helped James Wood secure its first regional playoff berth in 10 seasons.

She did it all despite facing the best defender or two from the Colonels’ opponents and she never let those foes know that the pressure was bothering her.

“She’s so mature as far as the game of basketball goes,” Crites said. “I don’t ever notice that it bothers her. She doesn’t show a lot of emotion ever. I think that sometimes that’s more frustrating for the team that is double-teaming her than it is for her because she doesn’t show that she’s frazzled, upset or that it’s fazing her.

“They will look at me and say, ‘What do you have to do to get her to mess up?’ If I knew what that was it would already be on the list of things for her to improve on. She shows nothing.”

Firebaugh comes from a basketball family. Her parents Kevin and Jamie both played in high school and her older brother Cam was an outstanding scorer for the Colonels.

“I’ve been playing ever since I could pick up a ball,” Makayla said. “I was young.”

There was something about the game that made it special.

“I don’t know. I’ve just always been drawn to it,” Firebaugh said. “I’m very competitive, so I guess I like the competitiveness of it.”

As early as sixth grade Firebaugh figured out she was pretty good at the game. She’d spend many hours out on the family court until being called in for dinner.

“And then after supper I would go back out,” she said.

And there still are countless matchups against Cam.

“When he comes home from college, him and I are always like, ‘Do you want to play one-one-one or go outside to play some kind of basketball?,’” Makayla said. “It helped me a lot because he taught me how to be aggressive because he would always pick on me and shove me. It helped my game a lot more in taking it to the rack and drawing fouls and stuff.”

Crites said Firebaugh’s game has been a constant improvement since she became a starter as a freshman. Firebaugh has led the Colonels in scoring in all three of her seasons. She led the team both in field goal percentage (41 percent) and 3-point percentage (34.4 percent) this season.

“She’s a good kid,” Crites said. “She’s special. She works hard. Every year I’ve given her something to improve on and she’s done that and more.”

One of those things was to get stronger going to the basket. Where as a freshman she ricocheted off the bigger bodies inside, Firebaugh now absorbs the contact and can finish. The contact also gets her to the foul line where she shot an area-best 83.6 percent.

Even that is a number where Firebaugh improved markedly from the previous season.

“That was a big thing for me this year because in fall season I could have won the game with a foul shot and I ended up missing,” Firebaugh said. “I didn’t want that to happen during the regular season.

“It’s all about a rhythm to me and I just block everything out. I just focus on one thing — me and the basket. Basically, I just block everything else out. It’s all about a rhythm. If you stay in the rhythm you’re going to continue to make the shots. … We shoot a lot of foul shots in practice, too.”

But Firebaugh’s game is more than scoring. She also led the Colonels in steals (3.7 per game) and rebounding (6.6) and was second on the squad in assists (2.6).

“I take a lot of pride in rebounding and assists because everybody just thinks I am a scorer,” Firebaugh said.

“I’m not shocked at how she plays,” Crites said. “I know how good she is. She knows how good she is. … She’s improved tenfold from when she was a freshman and she was good as a freshman.”

So, Firebaugh often sees box-and-one defenses or double-teams when she has the ball. Teams will use multiple defenders on her to try to tire her out.

“I’ve kind of been used to it ever since I was young,” Firebaugh said of being the focus of opposing defenses. “It’s not really pressure on me. I just know what I’m going to go up against, basically somebody else with my skill level and experience. I’m used to that.”

“I love the fact that she accepts the challenges and kind of welcomes them,” Crites said. “The more people that guard her the more inclined she is to play harder.”

But Crites is quick to point out that Firebaugh is a good teammate. While Firebaugh scores points, she doesn’t hog the ball. And as her assists show, she knows how to get the ball to open teammates.

“I would pass it if they were open and I know they would pass it if I was open,” Firebaugh said. “There’s really no fine line. You just know. Nobody is selfish with the ball. You know when to pass it and what shots are good and what shots aren’t.”

“She in no shape or form ever portrays that it’s all about her. Never,” Crites said. “She’s very humble. She’s very wanting of everybody else to be involved. She’s very appreciative of the things her teammates do for her.”

Firebaugh says she is grateful for what her teammates do for her. She especially appreciated that they allowed her to chase a little history. In a contest against Kettle Run, Firebaugh broke the school mark for scoring in a game with her 40 points.

“They are all very supportive of what I do,” she said. “There was a record I wanted to break this year and I ended up getting that record and my team was like, ‘Let’s help her get it.’ They all helped me and were very supportive and proud of me and happy for me when I got that record. That just means a lot to me as a player that my team has my back and wants to help me succeed as a player.”

And success followed the Colonels (16-9) this winter. They finished second in the Class 4 Northwestern District regular season and tournament to Class 4 quarterfinalist Millbrook. The runner-up finish in the conference tournament ended a long regional drought.

“It meant a lot especially since James Wood hasn’t done that in 10 years,” Firebaugh said. “It’s a big accomplishment and it means a lot to not just the basketball team, but also the school.”

Firebaugh had a remarkable postseason, which ironically came after the worst scoring game possibly of her career. She had two points in a loss to Millbrook in the final regular season game.

“I get past it and move onto the next game,” she said of rough outings. “I’m not going to let that hold me back. I just forget it and move on.”

And she did.

She led the Colonels in scoring in all four playoff games and saved her best for last. After struggling in two regular-season meetings against Millbrook, Firebaugh had 30 points and 11 rebounds in the district title loss. And in the 4C regionals, she lit up Loudoun Valley for 36 points.

Her play earned her plenty of accolades, including Northwestern District Player of the Year, Region 4C Co-Player of the Year and VHSL First Team selection.

“I don’t think they all expected me to do what I can do,” Firebaugh said of the accolades that were voted on by opposing coaches. “They were like, ‘Wow, she can actually play.’ It meant a lot to me that I got those and that other coaches know that I can play.”

Crites said Firebaugh’s versatility and endurance are outstanding. She said Firebaugh also could run practice in her absence.

“She can run point for me,” Crites said. “She can run shooting guard and she can play post on our 2-3 zone. She can pretty well do whatever I ask her to. Even if I asked her to do the jump ball, she would probably give it a go. … She plays 32 minutes every single game. I don’t think fatigue is ever an option for her.”

Firebaugh, who wants to work on her defense, said she has orally committed to a Division I school. The honor student plans to major in forensic science.

Crites said Firebaugh’s potential in and out of basketball is limitless.

“She’s just a great person,” Crites said. “She’s going to be a very successful adult. Basketball aside, she’s going to do great things in life because she has a great foundation. Her parents have done a nice job of making her respectful, humble and appreciative of the little things. She’s an amazing student.”

Firebaugh, who likes to kayak and go to amusement parks (Hersheypark is her favorite) with her friends, can’t imagine not playing the sport that she’s active with year-round.

“It’s nice to have a little break every now and then, but I just love basketball,” she said. “If I went away from it, I don’t know what I would do.”

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