Chesapeake College women’s basketball coach Gwen Barnes and her players badly want to finish the regular season with a Hollywood flourish.

If Chesapeake performs well in the team’s final four games–two of which are at home (7-1 record) in Wye Mills–that would help the Skipjacks secure a high playoff seed in the Region XX Division II Tournament, which starts on March 5.

Chesapeake has won the Region XX Tournament three times in Barnes’ 10 years on the job.

The Skipjacks are at home for its next two games, facing Northern Virginia Community College on Wednesday, Feb. 21, then hosting Howard Community College two days later.

A strong finish (team has won 3 of 4) would give Chesapeake more confidence and swagger heading into the postseason. The Skipjacks haven’t been as consistent as the Barnes expected.

“We have had our ups and downs, but I think things are going pretty good,” Barnes said. “We are beginning to pick up traction. There were some things we had to work through offensively and defensively. It’s late in the season and I think things are clicking at the right time.”

The Skipjacks–12-9 overall record and 4-4 conference mark–have improved in a lot of areas, which has led them to playing perhaps their best basketball of the season.

If the Skipjacks excel down the stretch and in the playoffs, 5-foot-3 sophomore point guard Ayanni Brown and 5-foot-8 sophomore shooting guard Aniya Jones would likely be the reason.

You can call the duo among Chesapeake’s most important leaders on and off the court.

Barnes relies on Brown and Jones a lot to win games because of their offensive and defensive play.

Brown, a graduate of Meade High School in Anne Arundel County, is a terrific ball handler, explosive scorer and outstanding penetrator.

She ranks first on the team in scoring (14.7 average), three-point accuracy (35 percent) and third in rebounding (6.4).

Brown’s highlights of the season? A dominant showing in back-to-back games early in the season. She finished with a season-high 25 points 96-75 victory over visiting Frederick Community College on November 29.

Brown also scored 24 points, including hitting five three-pointers in an 83-82 loss to host Prince George’s Community College on December 1st.

“She contributes in every area to help with the success of the team,” said Barnes, who is in her 10th year as coach. ”When you have a point guard who can shoot, defend, handle the ball and lead a team, then you have a really solid player.”

Jones is also giving the Skipjacks scoring punch. She ranks second on the team in points (12.2) and rebounding (6.7) while shooting 43.4 percent from the field.

Jones had a memorable game, totaling 33 points, nine rebounds and three steals in an 87-60 over visiting Anne Arundel Community College on February 9.

Her shooting is all-league quality.

“She is very agile and can play inside or outside,” Barnes said. “She can play all five positions, which is hard for players to do.”

Ty Queen, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, gives Chesapeake a presence underneath the basket as the anchor of the frontline. She leads the team in rebounding (6.7) and field goal percentage (46.7) while averaging 8.6 points.

Freshman guard Delon Foster and sophomore guard Bryah Henry complete the starting lineup.

Freshman guard Maya Hawkins Bailey, Da’Myni Johnson, and Leondrea Nichols and freshman forward Deamani Davis provide quality minutes off the bench.

“I know our best basketball has yet to come,” Barnes explained.