No. 2 Southern Garrett 58
No. 7 Fort Hill 45
FORT HILL (9-16)
Kelly 4 0-0 10, Crabtree 1 1-1 3, Harris 5 2-3 12, Bush 1 0-0 2, D'Atri 1 5-57, Wolfe 1 1-2 3, Remson 4 0-0 8. Totals 17 9-11 45.
SOUTHERN GARRETT (16-8)
Gangler 0 2-2 2, Kisselovich 7 4-4 18, Ritchie 5 4-6 18, Hilliard 8 4-7 20. Totals 20 14-19 58.
Fort Hill 14 9 9 13 -- 45
S. Garrett 15 9 14 20 -- 58
3-pointers: Fort Hill 2 (Kelly 2). Southern Garrett 4 (Ritchie 4).
Fouled out: Fort Hill (Crabtree).
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
Phone: 301-264-3147
Email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
Ritchie, Rams take out Sentinels in 58-45 win
* Hilliard leads Southern Garrett with 20 points
* Ritchie hits momentum-shifting 3-pointers - three of them
By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
OAKLAND, March 2 -- Pack up, Southern. You're headed to Frederick.
The Southern Garrett Rams boys basketball squad has left behind its second-half slump and rebounded to oust both Clear Spring and, on Wednesday, AMAC foe Fort Hill to advance to the Class 1A West Region championship game.
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Frederick Community College against the Williamsport Wildcats, who defeated Smithsburg 46-43 on Wednesday. Williamsport enters the region championship with a 21-3 record. The Rams are 16-8.
For the 18 minutes on Wednesday, it seemed questionable whether Southern could pull off a 16th win at the expense of Fort Hill. The Sentinels were aggressive and went toe-to-toe with the Rams underneath the boards.
The Rams led just 24-23 at halftime and senior Joey Kisselovich tipped in a missed field goal attempt early in the third quarter for a 26-23 lead. The game almost got away from the Rams, though, as Fort Hill went on a 6-0 run over the next 86 seconds to take a 29-26 lead.
Senior Brandon Remson, who finished with eight points, scored fourth of them in that stretch.
But the Rams countered with a run of their own, capped by the second of D.J. Ritchie's four 3-pointers and the first of three in the second half that proved pivotal. Ritchie's tre followed two free throws by Kisselovich and a putback by Calvin Hilliard that put Southern back on top, 30-29.
Ritchie's 3-pointer made it a four-point game. After the Sentinels' Jarrett Wolfe made the first of two free throws, Hilliard took a pass from Kisselovich for a layup and a 35-30 Southern lead with 2:13 left in the third period.
The Rams stretched its advantage to six points when Hilliard, who frustrated Fort Hill coach Glenn Rice much of the night, completed a layup and free throw for the three-point play and a 38-32 lead with a quarter to play.
The lead bounced between six and eight points through the first 3:12 of the fourth quarter until Ritchie hit his third 3-pointer of the game for a 47-38 Rams lead. The bucket was the eventual game-winning basket but Fort Hill didn't know it at the time. It didn't take long, though.
Will Harris hit one of two foul shots for the Sentinels before Ritchie struck again from beyond the 3-point arc. Southern held a 50-39 advantage with 3:28 left in the game.
Kurt Gangler hit two free throws with 2:53 to go for a 10-point Southern lead and, 71 seconds later, Kisselovich made two more for a 54-42 lead.
58 45
Photo courtesy Harry Biggs
The Southern Garrett Rams cheerleading squad performs the Spirit Dance at a recent pep rally.
Flying high in the photo is junior Olivia Gaither. Members of the varsity team include seniors Chastity Beckman, Amber Gordon, Sara Harvey and Sara King; juniors Haylee Bolyard, Jennifer Feaster, Patricia Sherrard and Hannah Wiltison; and sophomores Lakyn Barnard and Katie Sislo.
JV team members include junior Georgette Goralski and freshmen Taylor Ashby, Chanda Beckman, Abby Hopkins, Julie Keefer, Morgan sanders and Mattia Shrock.
Joey Kisselovich
18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists
D.J. Ritchie
18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Calvin Hilliard
20 points, 3 rebounds
Bubba Scheffel, Tyler Gregory and Jacob Bramande support the Rams in their 58-45 playoff win over visiting Fort Hill.
Photo courtesy
Harry Biggs