The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

No. 1 Huskies get the best of No. 6 Golden Tornado in AMAC rematch
* Northern Garrett opens game with 16-2 first quarter
* Keyser rallies in fourth, holds Huskies to just two points

By The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
NEW CREEK, W.Va., Jan. 13 - Northern Garrett girls basketball coach Steve Fratz said his team lacks "the killer instinct" this year when compared to years past.

Then Thursday night must have been a flashback. The top-ranked Huskies overwhelmed the No. 6 Golden Tornado at Keyser in an Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference rematch in New Creek.

Senior point guard Kaitlynn Fratz hit the first of her four 3-pointers just 11 seconds into the game for a 3-0 lead. Northern Garrett, which lost to the Golden Tornado 68-64 on Dec. 17, was on pace for 64 points again after the first eight minutes of play.

Keyser was on pace for eight points.

"At any given time, people can get beat," said Fratz of his team's only conference loss.

Fratz credited the participation of sophomore Allison Yommer as being a key difference in Thursday's game. She scored just six points, but grabbed 10 rebounds.

More importantly, Fratz said, Yommer "plugged up the middle and made (Keyser sophomore Carly) Grady do different things."

Northern Garrett led by 14 at the end of the first quarter and by 20 at halftime.

"It's easy to lose the aggressiveness," Fratz said.

That didn't happen until the fourth quarter. Sporting a 28-8 advantage headed into the third quarter, the Huskies came out firing. Terra McKenzie's bucket three minutes into the period made it 30-10, then Kaitlynn Fratz drove into the lane 38 seconds later for a 32-12 lead. After a 3-pointer by Keyser's Lexi Carr, McKenzie nailed two successive 3-pointers just 49 seconds apart for a 38-15 lead.

Then Fratz hit two more baskets as the Huskes led, 42-17. Fratz hit her fourth and final 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the third period for a 45-19 lead.

Then the fourth quarter started. And Golden Tornado coach Josh Blowe said the Golden Tornado played for eight minutes how he knows his team can play.

"In the first half, we weren't executing," Carr said. "In the fourth quarter, I turned it on."

Carr finished with 15 points. Ten of those points came in the final eight minutes.

But Fratz the point guard said she had no intention of losing twice in her final year of high school basketball to the same team.

"I wouldn't like that very much," said the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown student-athlete. "This is the last time I'll ever play them."

Looking ahead, McKenzie said the team is well-prepared for games such as the rematch with No. 2 Allegany on Jan. 18 in Cumberland. She said the Huskies make practice seem just like games, but "you never know about Allegany. It's going to be a tough match."

Northern Garrett handed the Campers a 52-47 defeat last month. It is Allegany's only conference loss this season.