The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Seein' is believin'
Don't underestimate these Huskies

By Kevin Spradlin
PhDispatch.com
Boxscore - provided by Your Statcrew LLC

CATONSVILLE, March 11 - The Northern Garrett girls basketball team beat its opponent, the Mardela Warriors, on Saturday afternoon to the Hampton Inn.

The Huskies then beat the Warriors to Ruby Tuesday for dinner. Then they beat them to the rim, clobbering the other small-town team that came into the Class 1A semifinal game with a 25-1 record. For the second straight year, Mardela lost - rather unexpectedly - in the semifinal round.

Northern Garrett wasn't a clear favorite against Southern Garrett in a second-round playoff game. The Huskies were the clear underdog against first Allegany, then Smithsburg in the 1A West Region championship game.

It was the most points allowed by Mardela this season. Twice in their first 26 games, the Warriors allowed 55 and 58 points - but won both of those games.

Bring on Dunbar Saturday night with the 1A state title up for grabs. Once again, Dunbar is the perceived favorite.

The Huskies wouldn't have it any other way. Senior point guard Kaitlynn Fratz scored six points and Northern Garrett jumped out to a 9-2 lead less than halfway through the first quarter.

"I like being the underdog," Fratz said in a postgame news conference. "We have been since this season started. The first quarter the past couple games have actually been going kind of well for me. If I don't score another point the whole game, I just want to come out hard and get our team started."

It worked. From the start, Fratz, Terra McKenzie and Morgan Brosnihan helped the Huskies capitalize on six first-half turnovers by the Warriors. Northern Garrett was outrebounded slightly, 44-42, but played even 16-16 in a pivotal first half as the Huskies built a 17-point halftime lead (39-22).

"That was our game plan," said coach Steve Fratz. "If we could hit a couple of early shots, then we could get them out of that (2-3) zone. I believe all three of these girls can beat most all girls to the hole. And that's what they did. We play physical with the teams that we're facing down here. I was very tickled how they stepped up and took that."

The Huskies didn't enjoy their 17-point lead for long. From the start of the third quarter, it seemed as if Mardela coach Kesha Cook had gotten her team back on track. The Warriors went on a 7-0 run over the first 3:55 of the third period and closed to within five points after Sha'kema Dashiell capped a 15-3 run with a steal and a fastbreak layup.

Still, the Huskies led, 42-37. And they answered with a spurt of their own. Kaitlynn Fratz completed a three-point play with 45.7 seconds left in the third to give Northern a 44-37 lead. She scored again just before the buzzer on a follow-up of a teammate's missed basket. The Huskies had each other's backs all night, as the undersized squad of point guards grabbed 16 offensive rebounds on the night - the same number managed by the bigger, physically stronger Warriors.

"The third quarter has been our Achilles heel all year," coach Fratz said. "Going into the fourth quarter, I thought Mardela started looking a little winded. We were pushing their defense. There again, heart brought 'em through."

Fratz finished with 28 points and seven rebounds. McKenzie added 18 points and 12 rebounds and Brosnihan had eight points. Sophomore Allison Yommer added seven points.

Taylor Siggers led the Warriors with 23 points and 14 rebounds.. Aleisha Hobbs added 10 points and nine boards.

This is only the second trip in team history to the state championship game. The Huskies lost to Francis Scott Key to close out the 1996-97 season.

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Update 6:28 p.m. - This is the page you'll want to visit frequently during tonight's game. Every 6-8 minutes, just "refresh" your browser (F5 for most of you) and you'll have access to the latest information.

8:29 p.m. - Dunbar comes back from 27-22 halftime deficit to win, 62-54.

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8:39 p.m. - Both teams are on the court and conducting shoot arounds and warming up. Tip-off is about 20 minutes away.

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8:50 p.m. - Big crowd here. So far, it looks overwhelmingly pro-Northern Garrett (or at least sounds like it).

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9:17 p.m. - end of first quarter. Yommer hit a bit 3 to put Huskies up 11-5. Fratz followed with her 2nd and 3rd three-pointers of the game. End of 1st quarter: Huskies 18, Warriors 11.

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In the first half, Huskies shooting 32.1 % from field and 50 % from 3-point range.

Warriors are shooting 45.2 % from field and 41.7 % from 3 point range.

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first 6 min of 3rd quarter, Mardela scores 11 of game's 14 points to cut halftime deficit in half. NG, 42-33 with 1:53 to go in 3rd.

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end of 3rd - 46-37 advantage Huskies
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