The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Do you believe?
McKenzie is 'in the moment,' comes up big for Huskies in region title game

By Kevin Spradlin
PhDispatch.com
FREDERICK, March 5 - Do you believe?

The Northern Garrett girls basketball squad entered the season with a motto of, "All in." Initially, that phrase included all nine team members, coaches and most of the parents.

But after the Huskies' 52-47 win over Smithsburg for the Class 1A West Region championship at Frederick Community College on Saturday, their dedicated fan base is recruiting new members. The Huskies' win snapped the Leopards' 17-game win streak and denied them a second straight region title.

More and more people are believing in the Huskies.

They're going to need all the support they can get in next week's state semifinal game. The date of that game won't be determined until Sunday afternoon. But you can be sure that Northern Garrett team will have at least one fan bus headed east to University of Maryland at Baltimore County to cheer on the Huskies against Mardela, which boasts a 25-1 record. Mardela beat Pocomoke on Saturday for the 1A East crown.

The stellar record isn't likely to intimidate the nine members of the Huskies squad - not after seniors Terra McKenzie and Kaitlynn Fratz sliced through one of the top defensive teams in the state - and entered the game with 23 wins and only one loss.

Northern trailed by six at halftime but that didn't seem to discourage coach Steve Fratz, who said then that he wanted to make Smithsburg a little uncomfortable on offense.

From the start of the third quarter, it worked. McKenzie said the team went to a 1-3 chaser and compacted the middle a bit more, making it difficult for 6-foot-2 Sara Rishell to score so easily from the inside.

"We just did the little things to mess up their offense," McKenzie said.

And the Huskies scored, too. Limited to 21 points in the first half, including only nine in the second quarter, Northern outscored the Leopards 15-10 in the third quarter. McKenzie started things out with a 3-pointer to make it a three-point game and standout senior Kaitlynn Fratz stole the ball and scored a fastbreak layup with 5:33 left in the third period to cut Smithsburg's lead 27-26.

Rishell connected on the first of two foul shots with 5:18 to go in the third for a 28-26 Leopards lead but McKenzie - more on her later - hit a crowd-pleasing bucket nine seconds later to knot the game 28-28.

Smithsburg scored for a 30-28 lead. McKenzie tied it with two free throws. Smithsburg led, 32-3 - Allison Yommer hit a field goal just inside the 3-point arc to tie it at 32-32. Then Rishell hit another free throw and Danielle Harbaugh sunk a basket with 1:07 left for a 35-32 Smithsburg advantage. Once again, it seemed as if the Huskies had finally tired out.

Even Fratz, normally near-perfect at the charity stripe, appeared to be fatigued when she hit only the first of two with 34.3 seconds left in the third. Just four seconds after that, however, Fratz showed she and the Huskies were anything but finished.

Her layup with 13 seconds to go kept Northern Garrett in the game. Smithsburg led 37-36 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the Huskies continued a defense that chased and harassed the Leopards into mistakes and missed shots that proved to be key to Northern's eventual win.

Fratz hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 39-39 two minutes in the fourth quarter. After two missed field goals by the Huskies - they didn't shoot nearly as well as they did in the team's win over Allegany - Fratz nailed a bucket and completed the three-point play for a 42-41 Northern lead.

Smithsburg went ahead 45-42 on a bucket by Katie Sprecher and two free throws by Elisa Owens with 3:27 left. No one knew the Leopards would be limited to only one field goal the rest of the way.

McKenzie drove through traffic for a layup with 3:15 to go to pull Northern within 45-44. Sprecher somehow sunk an off-balance shot made on one foot - but the rest of the game belonged to the Huskies.

McKenzie hit two foul shots to cut the Huskies' deficit to 47-46. She then hit arguably the biggest shot of the game, a 3-pointer with 1:47 to go, for a 49-47 Northern lead. McKenzie finished the game - and her personal 10-2 run - by sinking three of four free throws.

McKenzie said she hadn't realized the impact she was having on the game during the fourth quarter.

"I was just in a moment, just doing everything I could for the team," said McKenzie.

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Updates provided during the game
18:49 before tip-off: Huskies take the court for warm-ups to a healthy applause from a rather large contingent of fans.

35 seconds later, the Leopards run in to begin warming up to a smattering of claps.

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With 1:12 left in 1st quarter, Smithsburg leads 13-12.

At the end of the 1st quarter, Smithsburg leads 18-12. The Huskies are being overwhelmed by Smithburg's sides underneath the net on both ends of the court.

For Northern, Yommer 2, McKenzie 3, Fratz 7

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With 3:38 left in 2nd quarter, Smithsburg leads 22-17. Brennamen hit a big 3-pointer for Northern to pull within 20-15 and Fratz hit 2 free throws.

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Halftime: Smithsburg 27, Northern Garrett 21
The Leopards went on a 7-2 run beginning midway through the second quarter to begin to pull away from the Huskies. Fratz closed out the 2nd quarter with a layup.

Scoring: Fratz 13, brosnihan 3, Brenneman 3. For Smithsburg, Rishell has 7, Spreicher has 12.

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3rd quarter
McKenzie opens up scoring with a big 3-pointer for Northern> Huskies trailing 27-24.

Southern fans are beginning to pour in for the 2p.m. Boys game against Williamsport - and they're sititng on Smithsburg's side of the bleachers.

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With 5:00 to go in the 3rd qtr, Fratz hits a bucket and McKenzie comes up big. Tie game, 28-28.

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\with 34.3 seconds left in 3rd, Fratz hits 2 free throws to pull within 35-34.

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Fratz ties game 39-39 with a 3-pointer with 5:59 left in 4th quarter

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1:21 left on clock - Northern 50-47